


We Could Be Heroes

by randomwriter57



Series: Reigisa Week 2016 [7]
Category: Free!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Like very minor, M/M, Minor Violence, Slow Burn, Superheroes, like very very slow burn, more tags will be added as the story progresses!!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-16
Updated: 2016-12-24
Packaged: 2018-05-14 08:54:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 21
Words: 79,891
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5737468
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/randomwriter57/pseuds/randomwriter57
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>On a stormy night, two boys meet in an abandoned lighthouse; once a place of safety, now holding a mystery which launches their lives into action.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello all! I thought today I'd upload the beginning of an AU I'm planning. It's a superhero AU, and I'm enjoying planning it immensely.  
> This is only the first part, which I decided to upload as my last piece for Reigisa Week #3 because I want to write the rest of it soon, and perhaps posting it will motivate me to upload frequently! This first chapter is set before season one, in an AU where Nagisa and Rei meet in the lighthouse from episode six, and something interesting happens...  
> Anyway, I've really enjoyed this year's Reigisa Week again. Thanks everyone for a great week!
> 
> First chapter written for [Reigisa Week](http://reigisaweek.tumblr.com) #3, Day Seven: freestyle/redo.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> On a stormy night, two boys meet in an abandoned lighthouse; once a place of safety, now holding a mystery which launches their lives into action.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello all! I thought today I'd upload the beginning of an AU I'm planning. It's a superhero AU, and I'm enjoying planning it immensely.  
> This is only the first part, which I decided to upload as my last piece for Reigisa Week #3 because I want to write the rest of it soon, and perhaps posting it will motivate me to upload frequently! This first chapter is set before season one, in an AU where Nagisa and Rei meet in the lighthouse from episode six, and something interesting happens...  
> Anyway, I've really enjoyed this year's Reigisa Week again. Thanks everyone for a great week!
> 
> First chapter written for [Reigisa Week #3](http://reigisaweek.tumblr.com/), Day Seven: freestyle/redo.

Rain and feet battered the ground as Nagisa ran into the lighthouse. As much as he wanted to explore the lighthouse, he hadn’t expected he’d be in here so soon, much less during a thunderstorm. Still, he wasn’t going to hang around outside in that weather. There was no way he was crossing back over to the mainland in this storm, either. For now, he’d have to stay on Sukishima for now. Still, it was more than a little frustrating that he’d get stuck on the island facing the place where he’d much rather be: in the cabins by the beach on the mainland. And to think that if he’d done what his mother had said and just swam in the 50-metre pool indoors, he would never be in this situation at all.

But Hazuki Nagisa was not the type of person to be put out by this situation. Now he had the opportunity to explore the lighthouse until the storm died down. His parents and sisters wouldn’t mind him being a few hours late back to dinner if he could tell them some interesting stories about his findings in the ‘Rest Howse’. Even if he didn’t find anything interesting, he could always make up a story about it. Besides, the lighthouse was creepy enough that any of his extravagant stories would seem realistic in this setting.

Taking the situation in his stride, Nagisa plucked a torch from a shelf near the entrance and made his way towards what looked like a kitchen area. It wouldn’t be safe to cook in like this, but from the looks of the faded counter-tops and dirt-stained refrigerator, it used to be a good kitchen. Nagisa hadn’t thought that lighthouses would have kitchens - then again, this was supposed to be a rest house, right? It didn’t like he’d be getting much rest in this house, though.

As much as he wanted to explore the kitchen more, he was starting to feel the cold on his bare torso. He rubbed his arms as he moved further into the lighthouse, thinking almost lovingly of his room in the cabin. Even if he had to deal with his sisters’ teasing, at least it was warm there. At least cabins had central heating. Unlike this lighthouse. Although if it was a rest house once, then there had to be some form of heating here - even if it was just a blanket or two. At least then he would be covered and dry.

The lighthouse was much the same throughout it, bare and worn with no sign of life or supplies. No one had been here for years, by the looks of it, and still there was nothing Nagisa could use to make himself warmer. The coldness of the stairs bit at his feet as he took them two-by-two towards the floor above. Since there hadn’t been any bedrooms on the ground floor, they were probably up here, he reasoned. It would make sense for any supplies left to be up here, in that case.

Squinting his eyes, he focused on what looked like a dim light up ahead, past the top of the stairs. He was most likely imagining it, or the sun was already beginning to rise through the clouds, because there couldn’t be anyone else in the lighthouse. It was abandoned, after all. Still, he couldn’t help but imagine how cool it would be to find someone else in the lighthouse with him. He wondered if they would be a friend or an enemy. Why would they be in the lighthouse in the first place? These islands weren’t popular tourist destinations anymore. Perhaps it would be someone who used to live in the rest house, abandoned by his fellow inhabitants as they all fled the slowly deteriorating state of their home. He would be cranky and lonely, surviving by spearing fish and filtering sea water, like in those TV shows. He wouldn’t be happy to see Nagisa there, but part of him would soften at the sight of another living being. They would sit and talk and he would teach Nagisa how to catch fish and when the sun rose and the rain stopped they would have a fond farewell, with Nagisa promising to visit.

He took the last few steps with more energy and rushed towards the light source, excitement mounting at the prospect of meeting such an awesome person, and almost ran straight into someone holding a chair.

“Woah!” Nagisa said, stumbling backwards and grabbing onto a railing for support. “What are you doing?”

The person lowered the chair to the ground, revealing a boy with blue hair who looked to be around Nagisa’s age. He looked handsome in hiking gear, his sculpted arms and pronounced cheekbones barely visible in the half-light. But the suspicious glare of his eyes made Nagisa frown. It didn’t suit him much, though perhaps that was because his nerdy red glasses were spoiling the effect.

“Who are you?” the boy asked, keeping his grip on the chair. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m Hazuki Nagisa,” he said, trying to keep his positive attitude despite his disappointment. Even if there was no cool old resident, there was still human life in the lighthouse. “I was exploring the island when the rain started, so I came here for shelter.”

The blue-haired boy nodded, as though verifying Nagisa’s answer. Then he looked Nagisa up and down. A blush formed on his cheeks, barely visible in the dim light. “Er. Why are you- I mean.”

Nagisa blinked, looking down at himself. He didn’t see anything out of the ordinary - oh, wait. “Are you wondering why I’m only wearing jammers?” Nagisa looked up and laughed as the boy looked away, embarrassed. “I swam over from the mainland.”

“You swam in the sea?” the boy said, eyes wide. “Is that not dangerous? After all, it’s quite a length, so it must have been tiring.”

“It’s about two kilometres, I think,” Nagisa said, shrugging. “It’s fine, though. I wasn’t tired at all. And I’ve been swimming for years.”

The boy didn’t say anything. He still looked overwhelmed by Nagisa’s introduction and ability to swim well.

It was then that Nagisa realised this boy hadn’t introduced himself yet. “So, who are you then? I haven’t seen you around here before.”

“My name is Ryugazaki,” he said, pushing his glasses up. “And I’m not from around here. This is the first time I’ve been to this part of Japan, though I’m moving to the outskirts of a nearby town next year.”

“Ooh, which town?” The only town Nagisa could think of it being was Iwatobi, though it could have been one of the other towns in the area.

Ryugazaki frowned. “I don’t know the name, exactly. Besides, why should I tell you?”

“I’m curious. You don’t need to get all worried about it. It’s not like I’m a stalker or anything.”

“I can tell that.”

Nagisa grinned at Ryugazaki. “Well, now that we’re both stuck here, why don’t we explore together?”

Pausing, Ryugazaki processed the question before nodding. “I suppose there’s no reason why not. It would be good to get an idea of our surroundings and try to find supplies. You’ll definitely catch a cold if you don’t get warmed up soon.”

“Great! Let’s go then.”

Nagisa strode into the room ahead, Ryugazaki following after him. His excitement was beginning to mount again. Now he had someone his own age to explore the lighthouse with, it wouldn’t be so boring anymore. At least now he had a real story he could tell his family when he returned. Maybe he’d even stay in contact with Ryugazaki afterwards, and they could become friends. And if Ryugazaki really was moving nearby - especially if he was moving to Iwatobi - then they could hang out together. They could go to and from Iwatobi High together, assuming Ryugazaki would be attending the same school as him. It was only summer, so they had loads of time to figure things out. Neither of them would go to high school until next April, after all.

“Why are you here anyway, Ryugazaki-kun?” Nagisa said, looking over to the boy.

Ryugazaki gave him a glance and looked down at his feet. “I was hiking here with my family. We thought it would be good to come here for our holiday this year. But I got separated from them and then it started to rain, so I came here.”

Just from looking at him, Nagisa could tell that Ryugazaki was worried about his family in the storm. His eyebrow was furrowed and he was chewing his lip.

“Don’t worry about them, Ryugazaki-kun. I’m sure they’ve found shelter and are just waiting out the storm.” Nagisa smiled gently at him. “After all, you seem smart, so they must be smart too.”

Ryugazaki looked over to him with red cheeks, then gave a small smile. “Thank you, Hazuki-kun. You’re right, I shouldn’t worry too much about them. They’ll be okay.”

Nagisa’s smile grew, and he was about to say something when their torches gave a final flash before dying.

The pitch-black swelled around them as they blinked a few times to adjust their eyes. Nothing was visible in the darkness. Nagisa flicked the switch of his torch a few times, but it was definitely dead.

“I should have known this wouldn’t last all night,” Ryugazaki said, clicking his own torch. “And there isn’t a window here, either.”

“We could go back into the other area,” Nagisa suggested. There had been a large wall of windows there, though it was unlikely it would provide much more light.

Before Ryugazaki could answer, there was a crash from behind them.

“What was that?” Ryugazaki’s voice was coated with fear.

Nagisa couldn’t blame him. His voice was much the same. “I don’t know, but it didn’t sound good. We shouldn’t go back that way, it could be dangerous.”

The two of them stepped forward, feeling their way through the dark whilst trying to keep track of the other person.

“We need to find the service room,” Ryugazaki suggested. “There might still be power.”

“Where would they have that though?”

“The floor below the lamp. I read a book about lighthouses a while ago. It’s how they controlled the lamp and other facilities in the lighthouse without it being dangerous to the lighthouse keeper.”

“I hope you’re right, then.”

There was another crash, and Nagisa heard Ryugazaki’s jump of surprise beside him. It could have just been the weather, or perhaps something was breaking in the lighthouse, but in any case, Nagisa didn’t want to lose track of his newfound friend. If he got hurt, Nagisa would feel horrible about it.

“Ryugazaki-kun, this is going to sound weird but hear me out.”

“Go on.” Ryugazaki’s voice was hesitant, but it sounded like he would go with any plan at this point, just so they could get out of danger.

Nagisa felt himself blush and thanked the darkness for concealing it. “I think we should hold hands.”

Silence. Then, an answer. “Why?”

“It’s dark. I don’t want to lose you somewhere.”

For a moment, there was only the sound of the rain outside and the tide crashing against the cliff below, and Nagisa wondered if Ryugazaki was going to tell him he was weird and leave him. Then he spoke.

“Okay.”

Nagisa blinked into the darkness. That was easier than he expected it to be. Then again, Ryugazaki was probably just as worried as he was, and neither of them wanted to get lost on their own. Nagisa wasn’t about to complain.

“Okay,” Nagisa repeated.

Slowly, he extended his hand in the direction of Ryugazaki, feeling for the warmth beside him. Ryugazaki met him halfway, touching his arm gently before trailing his hand down to meet Nagisa’s. It was warmer than Nagisa had anticipated, and a little clammy if he was telling the truth, but if Ryugazaki had to deal with his cold, wet hands, then he could deal with this. It wasn’t actually that bad, anyway. He’d held hands with tons of people at school playing games in gym class, so it wasn’t as though he disliked holding hands with complete strangers. Actually, it felt nice to have this support beside him. Comforting.

“Shall we go?” Ryugazaki said quietly, as though speaking any louder would ruin the moment.

Nagisa nodded, then remembered that Ryugazaki couldn’t see him and vocalised his agreement. Then, they began to walk.

It didn’t take them too long to find the stairs. The warmth of their connected hands almost distracted them from the cold rails which they gripped as they ascended to the next floor. Even with their shared warmth, however, the second floor felt colder than those below it.

“I think this is it,” Ryugazaki said.

Nagisa didn’t know how he knew that, but he squeezed Ryugazaki’s hand by way of agreement and followed him into the room. It was much smaller than the other floors, and more ring-shaped as well. Besides the stairs going up and down beside them, there wasn’t much in the centre of the room. Luckily there was a single window right above a block against the opposite them, the only thing which they could see in the darkness. Stumbling over to it, they ran their free hands over the panel.

“This has to be the generator,” Ryugazaki said, tapping at a piece of glass. “Obviously it’s hard to see, but this isn’t the kind of furniture they had downstairs.”

“How do we turn it on, then?” Nagisa said, running his hand over various buttons and panels.

“There should be a lever or something similar.”

The two of them analysed the panel with their free hands, ignoring the fact that they could release their other hands, if they wanted to. After a minute or two of searching, Nagisa felt something lever-shaped under his hand, in the centre of the panel. Then he felt something warm on top of his hand and jumped.

“A-ah, sorry,” Ryugazaki said. Despite his surprise, he still gripped Nagisa’s other hand. “I didn’t see your hand there.”

“It’s fine,” Nagisa said. “I think this is the lever anyway. Shall we turn it on together?”

Ryugazaki hesitated for a moment before resting his hand back on top of Nagisa’s, connecting the circle of contact between them. Even in the darkness, Nagisa could feel his eyes boring into his own. He looked over and gave an invisible smile.

“On the count of three?”

“One.” Ryugazaki started.

“Two.” Nagisa said.

“Three!” In unison, the two of them spoke and pushed the lever down.

For a moment, it seemed as though nothing had happened, but before Nagisa could get disappointed, the lever began to heat up beneath his hand. Then it gave a flash of light. Nagisa felt a sharp pain shoot through his wrist before he fell backwards, eyes closing. The two of them blacked out, the lighthouse still pitch-black and the storm still raging outside. On the control panel, the lever glowed a dim red, its heat slowly dying into nothing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edit (6/8/16): Changed Oshima to Sukishima. _I can't believe I got the wrong island, omg._


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nagisa reunites with his friends and they head to the abandoned swimming pool. What's waiting there for them is not what they expected.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took far too long, I am so sorry. I’ll try to get future chapters out a little quicker, but January was really busy for me! I hope you’re all having a great month so far. Enjoy this chapter!
> 
> Warning: there are mentions of a knife in this chapter. There's no violence, but I thought it'd be best to warn you guys.

The bell rings like a starting signal and Nagisa takes off. All day - no, for the past three years - he’s been waiting for this moment. He’s so excited, he leaves his bag behind him and dashes out of his classroom without a second glance at the confused faces of his classmates. It doesn’t matter that it’s lunchtime. He has more important things to be doing right now.

Nagisa’s never been the fastest of runners. Back in elementary school, he used to run with his friends, but he always lagged behind them, struggling to keep pace. His stamina is still short, and he feels his heart racing as he exits the building he’s been in for the past couple of periods. He feels the cool spring air whip his fringe behind him and wishes it could give him more oxygen. His shortening breaths beg for him to slow down, but he pushes on.

The crowd of students part easily when they hear him coming, so he only has one collision. He doesn’t see her face, only her long red hair floating behind her as she moves to the side. He calls an apology to her without looking back. This isn’t the time to be worrying about bumping into people.

He reaches classroom 2A only a couple of minutes after leaving his own classroom. The students inside look up from their bentos in confusion, and it occurs to Nagisa that _they’re_ not here. It's not that this is the wrong classroom. He remembers from yesterday’s opening ceremony, when everyone’s classes were being assigned, that they were in this class. They must have gone somewhere else for lunch.

“Have any of you seen Haru-chan and Mako-chan?” he asks between breaths, not thinking twice about using his friends’ nicknames.

Luckily a kind senpai understands who he means and points him in the direction of the roof. He hurriedly thanks them and rushes off again, though this time at a slower pace. His chest is beginning to complain with all this sudden exercise.

He hears their voices before he sees them.

“I didn’t bring lunch.”

“Go buy something, then? Or do you want some of this? It’s squid.”

The sound of their voices pushes him up the final steps and he calls out, “Haru-chan! Mako-chan!”

His friends look over to him and he waves, feeling his heart inflate in elation. He hasn’t seen their faces in five years.

“It’s been forever!” he says, bringing his hand back down. “I’ll be joining you here at Iwatobi High School.” He feels a shot of pride go through him at the sentence. _Iwatobi High School_. It has such a nice ring to it. (The fact that it’s named after the rockhopper penguin adds to that pride, of course.)

Haruka and Makoto look at each other in mutual confusion, but Nagisa doesn’t mind. It _has_ been five years. It’s no wonder they can’t remember his face instantly.

“Mako-chan?” Makoto repeats quietly, the words ringing with familiarity.

“Haru-chan?” Haruka mirrors him, and their understanding grows.

Together, their eyes widen in surprise. Makoto is more obvious with his surprise, letting out an ‘ah!’ in realisation. Haruka, always the quieter one, lets out a small gasp. They turn to face him.

“Nagisa?!”

Beaming, he lets out a small laugh. Finally, he gets to be with his friends again. “You were going to the roof, right? Let’s go together!”

His friends merely blink, still stunned. Makoto is the first to break into a smile.

“Okay, let’s go.”

Somehow, even though they’ve only been reunited for a moment, it feels as though everything has slotted into place. This is how things should be.

Of course, one of them is missing, but that’s okay. Just being with Haruka and Makoto is a blessing in itself.

 

* * *

 

 

Going to Haruka’s house after school brings back memories of long summers spent swimming together and playing with Makkou (Haruka’s dog at the time). Sure, some of the memories are painful, but mostly they are happy, and even though his third year of elementary started badly, the rest of it had been fun. There isn’t much use in dwelling on the past, anyway.

Still, when they enter Haruka’s house, he’s surprised to find it completely empty.

“Where are your parents, Haru-chan?” he asks, though he recalls something about Haruka’s mother working late shifts.

“They live in Tokyo,” Haruka says without emotion, unlocking the door as though the question had never been asked.

“Wow,” Nagisa says. He follows Haruka and Makoto inside, sliding open the door to a closet. “You live by yourself, Haru-chan?”

“His mum went with his dad when he had to move because of work,” Makoto answers, taking a shovel from inside the cupboard.

Nagisa nods in understanding and follows Makoto to the kitchen, where Haruka is grilling something.

“Wait, mackerel again?” Makoto says, sounding defeated.

“Nobody’s forcing you to eat it,” Haruka says. He sounds annoyed.

Nagisa can’t see anything wrong with eating things you like often, though. Besides, it smells amazing. “Looks delicious! Haru-chan was always a good cook!” He looks over to Makoto.

When Makoto’s face falls and he looks down, Nagisa can’t help the confusion which washes over him. He didn’t say anything wrong, did he?

“So, are you sure about this?”

Nagisa feels a hint of relief fall over him. At least Haruka isn’t in trouble because he eats mackerel often, then. “Weren’t you all for it earlier? Are you getting scared?”

“It’s not that. Is it okay for just the three of us to dig it up?”

The three of them fall into saddened silence. Nagisa’s sure they all feel bad about it, but there’s nothing they can do.

“Can’t do anything about that. Rin-chan isn’t in Japan anymore.”

If he had been in Japan, it would have been nice for the four of them to dig it up together. He remembers the smiling, laughing Rin who decided they should bury their first-place relay trophy, calling it ‘romantic’ when they did so. He will probably be annoyed when he returns and finds out they dug it up without him, but it’s been five years, now. They can’t just leave their memories in the dirt forever.

For a few moments, they stand silently in recollection. Then Nagisa shakes his head.

“Come on, it’ll be fine!” He smiles at Makoto, though he knows his full heart isn’t in it.

Makoto looks at him for a second before giving him an equally weak smile. “Okay.”

 

* * *

 

 

The swimming pool looks like it came out of a childish nightmare. The green paint peels off the building, cracks and dirt streaking down its face. The once happy child on the face now cries tears of what looks like blood, but is probably where the rain has washed the paint away. It’s the perfect scene for a night-time adventure.

“This place is pretty trashed,” Makoto says, voice sounding hesitant. His grip on the shovel tightens a little.

Nagisa grins. He is perfectly prepared for this situation. He takes a small tissue out of his pocket and opens it, revealing a fine white powder. “Here, just in case. Purifying salt.”

“Salt?” Makoto doesn’t look impressed - perhaps that’s just the after-effects of looking at the trashed building, though.

“They say this place is haunted,” Nagisa says, looking towards the building. He’s heard many stories about the ghosts which supposedly haunt this place. (That’s half the reason he wants to explore it, of course.)

“Don’t scare me.”

Nagisa had almost forgotten how much of a scaredy-cat Makoto is. “I’m not lying,” he says, looking back to Makoto, who moves back in horror. “People have been seeing shadows moving around and hearing sobbing voices.”

The colour drains from Makoto’s face. Well, it’s better to inform him now of what he’s getting into rather than letting him be shocked later.

“Hold still!” He throws the salt onto Makoto’s back, making sure to cover as much as possible. Then he applies the same treatment to Haruka, who looks a lot less bothered about the supposed ghosts in the swim club.

“Hey,” Haruka says after a moment, taking a piece of the salt on his finger and tasting it.

“W-what is it?” Makoto looks terrified now, as though every word is going to be a warning about supernatural beings.

“This isn’t salt,” Haruka says. “It’s sugar.”

Nagisa blanches. Then he laughs it off. “Oops! I must have gotten them mixed up again!” He marches towards the building, feeling a little embarrassed. This is why he doesn’t cook at home.

“Nagisa!” Makoto calls after him, rushing to catch up while Haruka dawdles behind him.

When they get inside the building, Nagisa produces a torch. “It’s all mental, anyway, so sugar will get the job done.” He’s sure they were taught about that in school once - the placation effect, or something like that.

“Clichéd as hell,” Haruka mutters.

“It is one of the oldest mistakes out there,” Makoto says, his voice higher than usual. Nagisa’s pretty sure Makoto has made that mistake a few times trying to cook.

Suddenly, there’s a tinny crash, and Makoto jumps in fright, clinging onto Haruka’s shoulders.

“Oops.” Nagisa shines his torch on the empty can. “My foot hit this can.”

Makoto glares at him in a way that is only possible in this type of situation. “You’re doing this on purpose, aren’t you?!”

“You always were scared of the dark,” Nagisa says, moving onward without hesitation. None of them hear the quiet footsteps in the corridor behind them, or see the dark shadow rounding the corner they just passed.

It doesn’t take them long to reach their old locker rooms, which are in good condition, compared to the rest of the building. They pass through the locker room, smiling at the too-small cabinets just big enough for a child-sized bag of clothes. Memories of showering together flood into their minds, and Nagisa grins upon remembering a particularly memorable water fight in the showers. Even Haruka joined in for a little while.

When Nagisa leads his friends into the next room, he gasps. “This is…”

“The lounge,” Makoto finishes, looking around the room as Nagisa jogs to the far end wall. It’s decorated with a myriad of awards and photographs, the faded faces of smiling children peeking out from the aged walls. One picture in particular catches all of their eyes immediately.

Four children stand side by side in front of a pool, medals slung around their necks. Nagisa recognises his childish face, his fist in the air in victory. Beside him, their missing friend Rin holds their trophy with an arm around Haruka, who looks away in disinterest. Slightly farther from the three is Makoto, his only connection being a hand on Haruka’s shoulder, though he looks pleased with their victory nevertheless. That day is burned into all of their memories, branded with Rin’s age-old catchphrase:

“I’ll show you a sight you’ve never seen before.”

And he did. The sight they saw that day was like nothing they had ever known. That’s why Nagisa so badly wants to swim alongside his friends once again. What they saw on that day brought them all closer together, until they weren’t just teammates, but something much more special.

After this picture was taken, the four of them buried their trophy and medals in a cookie tin in the garden behind the swim club, promising to open it together once they reunited.

Nagisa feels a little saddened that they’re going to dig it up without Rin, but they’ll lose it otherwise. He’d rather have the memory to share with everyone than have it lost in the construction work.

He turns away from the picture. “We should probably head further inside.”

Makoto straightens up. “Yeah. Let’s go, Haru.”

Haruka doesn’t move, eyes still trained on the photograph, lost in thought.

“Haru? Haru, let’s go,” Makoto urges, sounding desperate. It’s as though he thinks they’ll be caught if they stay for too long, even though it’s the dead of the night.

“Yeah.” Tearing his eyes away from the picture, Haruka follows them.

They encounter nothing out of the ordinary as they venture further through the building. Perhaps it’s because of Makoto’s anxious energy, urging them to walk as quickly as possible so they can leave soon. Or perhaps it’s Haruka’s apparent haste to find the pool, which grows as they venture ever closer. They don’t stop walking, even as a shadow passes at the end of a corridor adjacent to their path. None of them notice it, or the quiet footsteps following them.

The swimming pool area is dark and lifeless, filled only with the light coming through the fogged glass windows to each side. Like in every other room, the paint on the walls is chipped, matched by cracked tiles. Nagisa can practically hear Haruka’s heart break when he flicks the torch on, only to reveal that the pool is empty, save for some dirt and a spooked mouse.

“I guess we should have suspected that,” Makoto says. “Why would there be water in an abandoned pool?”

Haruka huffs and looks away. At this point, he most likely feels foolish for being tricked into coming when there is no benefit for him.

Just as Nagisa goes to cheer Haruka up, another voice speaks. They freeze.

“What are you kids doing here?” The voice is low and gruff, a little croaky, as though it hasn’t been used often.

“Oh no,” Makoto breathes, his face draining of all remaining colour.

Slowly, they turn to face the person, expecting a construction worker on a late shift, or someone else likely to report them for trespassing. Instead, however, they face a man with dark rings around his eyes, standing out on his pale, bony face. He wears old clothing, worn from use. This isn’t the sort of person who would report children trespassing to the authorities.

Which only serves to strike more terror into their hearts.

“There wasn’t s’pposed to be kids here,” he says, scowling. “S’pposed to be empty.”

“S-sorry, we didn’t mean to trespass-” Makoto says, but he is cut off.

“I can’t let you kids go now. You’ve seen too much, you have.”

Nagisa feels a short sting on his wrist, but he ignores it. This isn’t the time to be preoccupied with things like that.

“W-we won’t tell anyone what we’ve seen here,” Makoto says, trying to get on the guy’s good side. They haven't seen anything they wouldn't have expected to see here, but agreeing that they have is probably the best course of action.

Nagisa wishes he could speak to help Makoto, but his mouth is dry. He doesn’t know what to do.

“Uh-uh,” the man says. “I ain’t got no proof you’ll keep your traps shut.”

Makoto’s hand reaches back and he clutches Haruka’s hoodie gently. The man doesn’t notice, but both Haruka and Nagisa see the importance of this - Makoto has done everything he can.

“Take our word for it,” Haruka says, speaking up without a single tremor in his voice. “We don’t want anything to do with you.”

The man reaches into his pocket and grabs something, clutching it tightly. “That might be true. But I ain’t taking no chances.”

Slowly, deliberately, the man draws a dagger, big enough that it certainly is not legal. The three teens take a collective step back, their breaths held in panic. This can’t be happening - and yet, it is.

“Don’t you worry, kids, this’ll all be over soon enough.”

Even just that sentence is enough to make them worry more. Haruka pushes to the front of their trio, trying to protect his friends. Nagisa looks between Haruka’s determined face and Makoto’s terrified face and the man’s face, unreadable but unsettling. The pain in his wrist increases and he looks down at it in despair - why did it choose this moment to start hurting? But when he looks at it, he notices that the pain is confined to one area - the reddish mark left on his wrist, a remnant of the events in the lighthouse last summer.

He still can’t remember exactly what happened after he passed out. All he knows is that when he woke up, it was in hospital. Ryugazaki’s family had found them and called for help, but they had also taken their son home before Nagisa had a chance to speak to him about it. All he had left from that night was the mark on his wrist, a blob which somewhat resembled a snowflake, though nobody he pointed this out to took him seriously.

Now this snowflake is on fire. Nagisa clutches his wrist, trying to calm the pain as he looks back up at the approaching man. He doesn’t know what they’re going to do - there isn’t anything they can do - and he can only hope that someone, something will happen that will save them.

He takes a step back. His heel catches on the edge of the swimming pool, and his breath falters. Before he has a chance to correct his balance, he stumbles and falls backwards.

‘Please,’ he prays to every deity he can remember, ‘help us out here!’

It happens before Nagisa can fathom it. One moment he is falling, terror fuelling every beat of his heart, and the next he floats in a ball of light. It’s warm, here, comforting. Although it’s slightly unsettling that he finds himself naked. Then, a moment after the thought passes through his mind, sparks fly from his body, transforming it, working together to create a cocoon. Perhaps this is what death feels like - though he never imagined it to be this peaceful.

The light flashes, and he stands at the bottom of the pool. His friends and the man are staring at him with shocked expressions, jaws wide open as though they’ve seen a ghost.

Nagisa blinks and looks behind himself. There’s nothing there. “What is it?”

“What just happened?” the man says, taking a step back.

Looking towards him, Nagisa feels confusion rush through him. Actually, what did just happen? How is he still conscious? That fall should have at least knocked him out, judging by the depth of the pool. It's a miracle he isn't injured. Then he looks down at himself.

There it is: a black bodysuit made of a comfortable fabric, with a white patch over parts of his chest and stomach. His shoes are yellow, now, unrecognisable yet vaguely familiar. He puts a hand up to his face and feels the fabric of a mask covering the skin between his eyebrows and the top of his nose. When he pulls his hand away, he sees the mark again, stark red against the pale skin of his arm, exposed only by the sleeve of his suit rolling up. Strangely, he could swear it’s glowing.

It isn’t only the outside which has changed, though. He feels some sort of power running through his veins, energising him. He feels like he could run for miles without tiring. And when he looks up at the man, knife still held between loose fingers, he knows that everything will turn out their way.

Gathering his strength, he takes a running jump at the wall of the pool.

His friends stagger to the sides as Nagisa lands on top of one of the starting blocks. Their eyes are wide, and Nagisa can't blame them for being shocked. He did just jump from the bottom of the pool to the starting block without using the wall as a support. Even Nagisa is a little surprised by what he's just done.

He walks up to the man. This must be the hard part.

“What do you want with us?” Nagisa says. “We’re not going to do anything. Can’t you see? We’re just kids. Why would we care about whatever sketchy business you’re running here?”

The man scowls deeply at him, clutching the dagger more tightly. “There’s no proof-”

“To hell with proof! Take our words for it. All we want is to go home.”

At first, he isn’t sure if his words have worked or not. Perhaps they did. He’ll never know, though, because a second later, a flash of gold whizzes through his vision and the man keels over, the dagger dropped a few metres away from his hand.

Silence. They all stare at the now unconscious body, still unsure what to make of this situation. Then they look up, and their shock increases to an extent which Nagisa didn’t know was possible.

In front of them, holding the trophy they won five years ago as though it’s a baseball bat, is none other than a shaken Matsuoka Rin.

“What the hell is going on?” he says after a moment of silence, lowering the trophy.

None of the others can find the words to respond to him. Instead they all gaze at him in silence, shocked by the sudden reappearance of someone they’d believed to be in Australia right now.

“Rin,” Makoto says. “What are you doing here?”

“Does that really matter right now?” Rin raises an eyebrow. “I think what matters is why some fucking creep was trying to stab you all.”

“And he would have stabbed us, if you hadn’t been here,” Makoto says.

“Maybe he’s in a gang and they’ve been using this as a den,” Nagisa says. It would make sense, considering the blade the man was carrying.

Rin looks over to Nagisa, meeting his eyes with a look of utter confusion. “Seriously, what the hell was that?”

Makoto gives him an equally confused look. “Yeah, I didn't even see you fall, but then you were surrounded by light. Not even a second later, you’re standing in the pool wearing that-” Makoto gestures to Nagisa’s body. “Does that happen often?”

Even Haruka looks over to Nagisa expecting an answer.

Nagisa looks between the three of them, unsure of what to say. He’s just as clueless as they are as to what’s going on. All he knows is the sensation of warmth and comfort which came after he gripped his wrist and prayed for help, and that since then, he’s felt much stronger.

“Let’s sit down,” Makoto says, his face softening. “We’re all shaken by this.”

“We should call the police, first,” Haruka says, looking back down to the man.

Rin sighs and pulls out his phone, dialling 110 and speaking calmly into the receiver.

In the meantime, the rest of them find a comfortable spot on the floor, far enough away from the attacker that they feel safe in case he wakes up again. Makoto and Haruka speak to each other in low voices, asking about each other’s wellbeing. Left with the distinct feeling of not wanting to speak, Nagisa cradles his wrist with his other hand, looking down at the glowing shape under his sleeve. Surely there is no other cause of this happening - it began when he held the mark, and the mark is glowing now. And to think, he got this mark on a night in a lighthouse on an abandoned island, of all places.

Now he thinks about it, Ryugazaki was with him at that time. They had grasped the lever at the generator together - perhaps that was what had given him this mark. If so, then it was likely that Ryugazaki would have a similar mark.

‘Does that mean he can do this too?’

“Nagisa,” Makoto says gently.

He looks up to see the other three sitting in front of him.

“You gonna explain to us or what?” Rin says.

Nagisa doesn’t need to ask what they are talking about. Figuring out how to start explaining is the hard part. “Right. Okay. I don’t know all that much either, but I’ll try to explain what I know. Earlier, when Haru-chan and Mako-chan were being threatened by that guy, I felt really scared. My wrist also felt really sore, right here.” He points at the mark, which glows faintly. “I didn’t think anything of it, but it got sorer when Haru-chan tried to protect us. I felt really scared - I thought we were dead! It got really sore, so I gripped my wrist like this-” Nagisa grasps his wrist as he did before, “and prayed for help. That’s when it happened.”

“So you held your wrist, prayed, and then turned into some weird superhero?” Rin says, not looking impressed. “That sounds like some stupid fairytale story.”

“But we saw it happen,” Makoto says. He turns to Nagisa. “How did you get that mark?”

“It happened on holiday last summer,” Nagisa says. Then he recounts the tale of the lighthouse, taking out the minor details and Ryugazaki’s involvement. “Ever since then, I’ve had this weird mark on my wrist.”

“And this is the first time it’s done this?”

Nagisa nods. “Nothing like this has ever happened to me before.”

The four students sit in silence, unsure of what to say next. Then they hear the crunch of tires on gravel as a police car pulls up outside the swimming club.

“I’ve told them we’re in here,” Rin says, standing.

“Wait,” Makoto says, also standing. “What are we going to say about Nagisa?”

Nagisa frowns before realising that his new attire could look a little odd to the police officers. “We could say I’m cosplaying or something?”

“Only mention it if they bring it up,” Haruka says.

The four of them walk over to the entrance, torches illuminating the ground so the officers can see more clearly where they are. It only takes a few minutes for the officers to find them, faces grave.

“Where is the attacker?” one officer asks in a quiet voice.

Rin nods his head to where the man is still unconscious. “I had to knock him out, sorry.”

“Self-defence, it’s fine,” the officer says, moving over to inspect the man. He picks up the knife, gloves making no mark on it. “This is definitely an illegal blade.”

“Definitely his?” the other officer asks, cuffing the attacker’s hands together.

“There’s no way these kids would be able to get a hold on one of these.”

When the officer walks back over to them, he smiles. “Don’t worry, kids. We’ve got this all under control. Of course, we’ll have to contact your schools about this incident. After all, you shouldn’t be trespassing in a construction zone like this. It’s dangerous.”

They mumble an apology, though they care more about the fact that they will face no major consequences for their actions.

As the officer moves down the line of students, asking for their name and school, Nagisa decides to try something out. After all, he is dressed for the role, and if it goes wrong, he can always apologise.

The officer reaches him. He quirks an eyebrow, taking in his choice of dress. “Name?”

“Rockhopper,” Nagisa says.

“Rockhopper.” The officer looks blandly at him. “Odd name.”

“I’m a superhero,” he says. “I saw something was going on here, so I came to see what was happening. I was trying to talk to the attacker when Ri- this red-headed guy knocked him out.”

He feels the confused staring of his friends on his back but he does not waver.

“I see,” the officer says, taking a note on his pad. “You’re definitely not a just kid cosplaying?”

“Of course not! My mask is real and everything.” Nagisa tugs at his mask, showing that it doesn’t move from his face, as though it’s stuck on with superglue.

The officer frowns at him before shaking his head. “Okay, Rockhopper. Thanks for trying to help these kids.” Just like that, the officer moves on, no longer disputing Nagisa’s lie.

 

* * *

 

 

When the four of them exit the building, Rin gives them nothing more than a curt farewell before slouching off to wherever he came from. They watch him go without complaining - they can always speak to him about this later.

Makoto turns to Nagisa, giving him a tired look. "I can't believe you said that to the police officer."

"I can't believe he believed me," Nagisa grins. "I thought I'd just try something out, and it worked."

"Well, it looks like you have an alter-ego, now."

Nagisa bounces over to Makoto, feeling his excitement bursting through his body. "Do you know what this means, Mako-chan?"

"That we're never going into an abandoned building again?" It looks like there is a dim flicker of hope in Makoto's eyes as he makes his guess, but Nagisa only laughs.

"It means I can be a superhero! Going around Iwatobi, fighting all the bad guys..."

"Nagisa, that's dangerous!"

"So? I'm strong enough to fight them now, right?"

Suddenly, Nagisa is aware of Haruka's presence beside him as his older friend gives him a hard look.

"Don't needlessly put yourself in danger."

"Huh?"

Makoto nods and looks at Nagisa with furrowed brows. "Haru's right. Going out looking for a fight is only going to get you hurt. You need to use this responsibly, if at all."

Nagisa frowns. As much as he understands where his friends are coming from, it would be cool to do the superhero things from the comic books. He wants to know what it would be like to save people from criminals like in _Ultraman_. But Haruka and Makoto are right. As powerful as he feels now, he'd just get hurt in the end.

"Okay," he says in resignation. "I don't even know how I made this happen, anyway, so it's not like I'll be able to do this whenever I want to."

"Good point," Makoto says. "Actually, have you figured out how to change back, yet?"

Nagisa simply blinks at Makoto. He hadn't thought about that. He hadn't thought about changing into this version of himself either, but that didn't mean anything.

"Try the opposite of what made you change," Haruka says.

"But I don't know how I did that!" Nagisa says, his worry mounting. This change can't be permanent, can it?

"Didn't you say something about gripping your wrist?" Makoto says, thinking back to their earlier conversation. "Does that have something to do with it?"

Gripping his wrist, Nagisa feels nothing. There is no pain there, only the feeling of skin and fabric against his hand.

Makoto and Haruka exchange worried glances.

Nagisa thinks frantically back to earlier, when he first changed. He was afraid, his wrist hurt, he fell and prayed for help. If that's what made him change in the first place, then doing the opposite...

He grips his wrist more tightly. Closing his eyes, he clears his mind and thanks the gods and deities for their help, telling them he is safe now. After all, asking for their help earlier is what made him change, right?

A second later, he feels the warmth surround him again, lifting him a foot from the ground. When he opens his eyes, he's back in his usual clothes, feet on the ground.

Makoto and Haruka's eyes are wide again, blinking in astonishment.

"I guess you figured it out, then," Makoto says.

Nagisa grins before checking his watch. "Crap! I've gotta get home, my parents will kill me for being out this late."

"We'll walk you to the station," Makoto says. "They'll feel better if they know you've been with us, right?"

"Thanks!"

Together, the three of them walk to the station. Makoto and Nagisa engage in light conversation, trying to keep their minds off the events of tonight. Even though they've just had a major discovery, the events leading up to it are nothing they want to think about. Haruka stays quiet, though Nagisa can tell he is listening.

When they reach the station, they split up for separate trains. Nagisa waves to his friends from the closing doors of his homebound train, his smile fading when they're out of sight. Then he takes a seat and looks up at the luggage compartment. As fun as tonight has been, what with figuring out that he has superpowers, he is exhausted. And as much as he loves having superpowers, if he has to go through that kind of terror every time he wants to transform, it looks like he won't be using his powers as much as he wishes he could.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Revelations, reunions and running around.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It looks like I’m posting one chapter a month at the moment! Maybe once my exams are over, I’ll be able to post a little more frequently. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter!

The next day at school, Makoto and Haru are called up to the faculty office at the end of the day. Only Makoto shows up to the meeting, with Nagisa standing outside for moral support, half-wondering why he wasn’t called up too. It’s obvious why they were called up, but what Nagisa doesn’t understand how he wasn't suspected too. It should have been easy for the officer last night to figure out his true identity using the knowledge of the others’ schools and his appearance. His name is in the school records, after all. It isn’t that he’s not grateful for not being scolded for breaking into the old swimming club, but it was his idea in the first place. He can’t help but feel a little guilty for getting Makoto and Haru into trouble (even if Makoto’s the only one being scolded for it).

Still, Nagisa doesn’t regret the previous night. Not only did they see their old swim club, obtain their old trophy and reunite with Rin, but they also discovered a secret none of them knew existed. He is a superhero. It's any kid's childhood dream, to have superpowers, and now he gets to live it. Even though it seems like he has to be in a life-or-death situation to transform, he still feels special. And maybe there's another way of transforming. The more time he thinks about it, the more he wants to explore his new alter ego. It's a new adventure for him.

Maybe one day he'll save someone, like a real superhero. Swooping in to save the day, he'll battle the villain and save their victim, who will be amazed at the sight of him. They will ask his name, and in the coolest voice he can muster, he'll reply: “ _Rockhopper_.”

Perhaps along the line, he can meet up with Ryugazaki again. Just to think how he could show Ryugazaki the result of their night in the lighthouse, it excites him to the very core. If only he knew where Ryugazaki lived now! To have a friend who shares the same secret as him, an undercover superhero, it feels like a dream. Surely it is too good to be true.

But he has to be careful. Makoto and Haru weren’t lying when they told him to keep himself out of danger. He doesn't know exactly what he can do yet, so he needs to figure it out, first. Their worry doesn't entirely dispel his desire to be like the comic book heroes or the shonen manga protagonists, but he understands it. Still, surely anyone would feel this desire when graced with such an amazing power. It's natural to be curious.

Across the hall, the door opens and Makoto trundles out, a tired expression on his face. He smiles half-heartedly at Nagisa. “Shall we get going?”

As the two of them walk, Nagisa apologises to Makoto. “It was my idea to go to the swimming club, but you had to take all the blame. Sorry, Mako-chan.”

“It’s fine,” Makoto says. “They weren’t too strict about it, actually. The police told them everything that happened last night, so the school know about the man with the knife. They decided not to reprimand Haru or I too badly because we faced a ‘traumatising event’.”

It was frightening, to say the least. All three of them had been terrified, so calling it traumatising isn’t too far off the mark. “Why do you think Rin-chan was at the swimming pool, anyway? He obviously wasn’t with that guy, right?”

“Yeah. I don’t know why he was there, but if I’ve guessed right, I think he must be back in Iwatobi for good.”

Rin wouldn’t take a holiday from Australia at the beginning of the school year. Even in Australia, the school year isn’t over yet. “Didn’t the police officer last night ask what school he attends?”

“I didn’t hear his answer. He spoke too quietly.”

Nagisa wonders if perhaps Rin doesn’t want them to know which school he goes to. Perhaps it’s because he secretly attends the same school as them. It can’t be right, though. He didn’t see Rin at the opening ceremony.

But Makoto seems certain, so the two of them head to the shoe lockers and begin perusing the aisles.

After a few moments, Makoto gasps. “Found him!”

“Really?” Nagisa rushes to the end of Makoto’s aisle, hope flooding him. If Rin really attends Iwatobi High, then maybe they can all swim together again…!

“No, hold on.” Makoto squints at the name and mutters under his breath, “Matsuoka Gou? That sounds familiar.”

The name rings a bell in Nagisa’s memory as well, though he can’t place it. It’s possible he heard it at the opening ceremony.

“I remember now!” Makoto says, straightening up. “That was Rin’s sister, Matsuoka Gou!”

“Oh!” Now Nagisa thinks about it, he remembers that time well. The day before their big relay, exiting the swimming club, a young girl had approached them. She was around Nagisa’s age, her red hair caught in a ponytail. She had given Rin the tin which he used to store their trophy and medals in when they buried them. She must be in his year group, though she isn’t in his class.

“We should tell Haru,” Makoto says. “He might be interested.”

Nagisa nods and follows Makoto out of the locker room. For now, he tries to keep his mind from the topic of his alter ego. Perhaps there’s another mystery which needs to be solved right now.

 

* * *

 

 

When they reach Haru’s house, they find that someone has gotten there before them - a girl with long red hair, captured in a ponytail. She turns away from the house, having received no answer, and jumps Nagisa and Makoto’s sudden presence. They need not ask her name, and she does not ask theirs as they walk together to the nearby pavilion where they are able to sit and talk.

“So you also chose Iwatobi High School, Gou-chan,” Nagisa says, leaning back on the seat.

Gou leans forward and glares at him. “Don’t call me Gou. Everybody calls me Kou.”

“Huh? Why? Your name is Gou, like the Sengoku warlord Azai Nagamasa’s third daughter, right?” Nagisa prides himself on his knowledge of history, so the name comes easily to his mind.

“Yeah, but the typical reading is Kou, so call me that. That would be the nice thing to do.”

Nagisa doesn’t see anything wrong with being names after such an interesting historical figure, even if the name is typically a boy’s name. Then again, he’s never felt ashamed of his own name, which is more suited towards girls. The only times he’s felt ashamed were when his sisters teased him about it.

Makoto tries to intervene. “Uh, putting that stuff aside-”

“That stuff?” Gou turns her glare to Makoto. Obviously her name is more important to her than either of them had thought.

“Sorry,” Makoto apologises. “But what are you doing at Haru’s place?”

In a second, Gou’s glare disappears and she scratches her cheek. “Well, I wanted to ask him about my brother.”

“So Rin is really back from Australia?” Even though they all know Rin is currently in Japan, the question has an unsaid, ‘for good’ tacked on the end.

“He returned last month and he’s attending Samezuka High School now. It’s a boarding school, so he hasn’t come home.”

Nagisa feels a pinch of hurt, knowing that Rin’s been in Japan for a month and hadn’t bothered to contact them once. Then again, something felt off with Rin last night, even taking into account everything that happened. He felt distant, like he wanted to know what was going on, but didn’t want to be associated with them. Maybe that explains why he stopped responding to Nagisa's letters, too.

“Samezuka?” Makoto says. “The swimming powerhouse?”

It makes sense that Rin would want to go to a prestigious swimming school. After all, the reason why he went to Australia in the first place was to train in swimming. He’s always been obsessed with swimming and competition. Rin wouldn’t choose somewhere like Iwatobi High School, which doesn’t even have a swim team in the first place.

Gou nods, then checks her watch and gasps. “I need to get going, or I’ll miss my train. It was nice talking to you!”

Makoto and Nagisa wave her goodbye, watching her ponytail fly behind her as she jogs back down the path towards the stone steps. Then they look at each other, the same thought in their eyes.

 

* * *

 

 

“No.” In Haru’s kitchen, he dries his hair with a small towel, disregarding his friends’ efforts to persuade him to join them.

“Let’s visit Samezuka Academy!” Nagisa says, hoping Haru will relent.

“Don’t you want to see Rin?” Makoto says.

“We saw him yesterday.”

Makoto sighs. “That’s half the reason we need to see him. We didn’t get to speak properly to him about what happened.”

Haru raises an eyebrow. “We explained it.”

“But we didn’t talk about where to go from here. What if he tells someone about Nagisa?”

Nagisa knows from superhero stories that secret identities are kept secret for a reason. He doesn’t want to be the one in danger. Even if he doesn’t think Rin is the sort of person who would tell people about his new secret, it’s still better for them to be careful, just in case.

“He won’t,” Haru says, though his eyes betray a hint of worry, Makoto’s psychology having finally worked, making him wonder, _would he?_

“We can’t be sure.” Makoto doesn’t look as though he wants to think Rin would do anything to harm Nagisa, on purpose or not. “Anyway, here I was thinking you’d finally get to swim if you came.”

Haru’s hands freeze in the towel.

“Samezuka is supposed to have an indoor pool.” Makoto says the words deliberately, making sure the idea of swimming is emphasised. It doesn’t surprise Nagisa that even years later, Haru still loves the water just as much as he used to.

Peeking out from his towel, Haru’s eyes glint at the prospect of being able to swim. He looks at Makoto for a moment before sighing and pulling the towel from his head. “Fine. Let’s go.”

Nagisa cheers and gives Makoto a thumbs-up behind Haru’s back. Now all they need to do is to go to Samezuka and talk to Rin again.

 

* * *

 

 

It’s almost sunset by the time they reach Samezuka Academy. There aren’t too many students around, which is good for them - three students wearing uniforms from another school isn’t exactly common, and it would raise suspicion. They sneak to the back of the swimming pool building, crouching by the windows gazing into the pool area. Not only is the pool an indoor pool, but it’s also long and well-maintained. It’s no wonder that Samezuka is known for being a powerhouse swimming school.

The poolside is filled with students of various ages, all wearing swimsuits and either swimming in the pool or waiting their turn. There are so many of them, Nagisa isn’t sure if they’ll be able to spot Rin all that easily. “Do you see Rin-chan?”

“Can’t find him. Maybe he’s out today,” Makoto says, disappointed. He turns to face Haru. “Hey, Haru-”

Behind them, Haru has his shirt unbuttoned and is unclasping his belt, impatient to get into the pool, despite the fact that there are still people in there. Makoto grabs Haru’s hands, stopping them from stripping any more clothes off.

“Don’t take your clothes off here!”

“You’re the one who brought me here to swim!” Haru says, pushing Makoto’s hands away in a rare display of agitation.

Sensing trouble, Nagisa jogs over and tries to be a pacifier. “Hold on, Haru-chan. Let’s wait until practice is over and everyone’s gone. Okay?”

Haru doesn’t look impressed, but he doesn’t complain.

Makoto sighs. “We’ll still be trespassing.”

“It’ll be fine!” Nagisa says. “Besides, you can just come up with an excuse like today!”

“Today wasn’t an excuse,” Makoto says. “Although we’d be in a lot more trouble if that didn’t happen. You didn’t even get told off anyway, and neither did Haru-” He looks over to Haru and blanches when he finds his childhood friend removing his trousers, wearing only his swimming jammers in the cool spring air.

“Can’t you wait?!”

By the time the pool is empty, darkness has fallen. They enter the building as quietly as possible, marvelling at the fact that it’s still unlocked. The room is lit only by moonlight, and the water shimmers with the reflection of stars. As expected, Haru immediately strips and dives into the pool, not listening at all to Makoto’s anxious yelling for him to wait a moment.

Nagisa’s eyes widen as he watches Haru’s swimming form. It’s still the same as he remembers it, gliding through the water as though it is silk, parting it easily, as though he’s meant to be within it. He smiles gently. “Haru-chan still reminds me of a dolphin.”

Makoto smiles and hums, though the serenity is broken when an idea pops into Nagisa’s head.

“Mako-chan, let’s swim with him.”

“No! We’ll get in trouble if they find us.”

Ignoring Makoto’s complaints, Nagisa loosens his tie and pulls off his shirt, his hands moving to unlatch his belt.

“Besides, you don’t even have your swimsuit-” Makoto gapes as Nagisa pulls his trousers and underwear clean off. He’s never been modest about his body, so he doesn’t mind being naked, especially in front of his childhood friends.

“A little skinny dip, then.” Nagisa laughs and runs forward. As he jumps into the pool, he yells, “I can swim!”

The cold water is as shocking as he remembers it being, but since the pool is indoors, it’s not as cold as it could have been. He swims around a little, trying to warm his body up. Then he swims over to the edge of the pool. “Mako-chan, come over here.”

“What?” Makoto says exasperatedly. “I’m not going to join you-”

He makes his move. In less than a second, Nagisa grabs Makoto’s ankle and pulls him into the pool, quickly moving back as Makoto topples into the pool.

Nagisa can’t help but laugh out loud as Makoto surfaces, face hidden by his soaking fringe. “You looked like an elephant falling in!”

Makoto pulls his shirt off, eyebrows creased in what looks like frustration. “Seriously, Nagisa…” He moves forward, hands outstretched.

Laughing, Nagisa splashes Makoto. Makoto splashes back, getting into the game now. The two of them have fun splashing each other for a few minutes as Haru continues to swim in his own personal bubble, unconcerned with his friends’ antics. It feels like the good old days, when they swam together in elementary school, playing and laughing and having a good time. It’s almost as though nothing is wrong.

Then the door crashes open.

Nagisa and Makoto look up in surprise as Rin approaches the starting block, eyes flashing with anger.

“What are you guys doing here?” Rin doesn’t make eye contact with Nagisa, looking more in Makoto’s direction but still not meeting his eyes, either. Something is definitely up with him, Nagisa decides. After all, the Rin he remembers isn’t this harsh.

“We came here to see you,” Nagisa says, lifting a hand to wave.

Rin doesn’t even spare him a glance, instead baring his teeth. “Get out.”

Nagisa’s heart falls. This definitely isn’t the Rin he remembers. He can’t tell if something happened, or if he’s just agitated because they’re in his school’s pool when they shouldn’t be.

Before either of them can say anything, Haru surfaces in front of them. Nagisa hadn’t even noticed him swimming over, but Haru’s swimming is so quiet, he isn’t too surprised.

A single word escapes Haru’s lips. “Free.”

“Huh?”

“Did you forget?” Haru doesn’t look up at Rin, but there is a gleam of memory in his eyes. “I told you I only swim freestyle.”

Nagisa frowns. He has no idea where Haru is going with this, though by the look on Makoto’s face, he has more of an idea.

Haru pulls himself up onto the surface, standing to meet Rin. He shakes his hair out of his eyes, and even though Nagisa can’t see Haru’s face, he sees how Rin’s eyes widen a little.

“I want you to show me that sight again. I’ve forgotten what it was that I saw.”

Rin raises an eyebrow, then grins, eyes closed. The grin isn’t one Nagisa recalls as being characteristic of the Rin he remembers - this one is smugger, filled with a confidence which seems too sharp for twelve-year-old Matsuoka Rin. “Sure, I can do that. But it won’t be the same this time. I’ll be showing you something completely different.” Rin opens his eyes, which light up with a competitive fire.

Somehow, Nagisa doesn’t think this will end well, but he and Makoto leave the pool in any case. Rin moves over to a supply closet, pulling out some towels and a pair of goggles for Haru. Whilst he’s searching, Makoto speaks to him.

“Actually, Rin, we wanted to talk to you about last night-”

“Last night doesn’t matter,” Rin says, not turning to face Makoto. He throws him a towel without a second glance and closes the closet, as though closing off the conversation.

Nagisa frowns. Even if Rin doesn’t want to speak about last night, they still need to talk about it at some point. After all, none of them want to risk Rin telling someone about Nagisa’s powers. Then again, with the way he’s acting right now, it’s doubtable that anyone would listen to him, or that he would talk to anyone about it.

Once they are dry, they pull on their clothes as Rin pulls his off, revealing his legskin. They then move to the side of the pool, watching as Haru and Rin take their places on the starting blocks.

“As always, I can’t make any sense of you,” Rin says.

“Whatever. You’d better get ready, Rin.” Haru doesn’t look bothered by Rin’s behaviour, more excited to swim once more, in his quiet, reserved way.

Rin smirks. “You’re as icy as ever. Yeah, you really piss me off.” He mutters the last words, though they still echo in the room, barely audible at Nagisa and Makoto’s distance. For someone who used to bug Haru all the time in elementary school, Rin is acting completely different around him now. Could he be putting on an act? Or was their time at elementary school a lie?

Haru doesn’t reply, instead looking to Makoto. “Makoto, give us the start signal.”

“Okay.”

“We’ll race 100 metres, freestyle.”

They crouch at the starting blocks, caps and goggles in place.

“Ready…go!”

Haru and Rin dive off the starting block at the same time, but Rin lands farther forward, giving him a head start. Nagisa remembers Rin’s strong kick, how it pushes him forward after the turn, giving him a better lead. Still, during the long periods between turns, Haru’s stroke makes up the distance between them. It’s almost a neck-and-neck race, the competitors so close it’s difficult to tell who will win until the hands hit the wall at the end of the race.

Nagisa and Makoto rush to Haru’s lane, calling his name.

Rin, the clear winner, grins and slams the water with his fist. “Yes!”

Haru breathes deeply, eyes closed. “You win. That’s great, Rin.” He opens his eyes and looks to Rin. The words are genuine, no hint of anger or resentment hidden within them.

But Rin scowls. His eyebrows crease and his teeth clench. “That’s great?” Suddenly, he grabs Haru by the goggles, staring into his eyes with a degree of anger Nagisa and Makoto have never seen him wear. Haru doesn’t visibly react, which doesn’t make them feel any less worried.

Before they can do anything, however, a door slams open behind them. “What are you all doing in here after hours?”

Letting go of Haru, Rin backs away and switches his glare to the newcomer. It looks like a teacher from the school.

“The pool’s supposed to be closed right now, and it’s almost curfew-” The teacher looks at Makoto and Nagisa’s uniforms with narrowed eyes. “Hold on, you don’t attend Samezuka.”

Makoto tenses beside Nagisa. “I’m sorry, we came to see our friend-”

“If you were coming to visit, you could have come through the front doors,” the teacher says. “You can get in a lot of trouble for breaking and entering, you know?”

Nagisa gets the feeling they won’t be able to use the excuse of a traumatising experience this time. At least Makoto won’t be the only one being scolded, though.

Rin hauls himself out of the pool. “I apologise for their behaviour. It won’t happen again.” He doesn’t look at them once, not even when Makoto calls after him as he leaves.

“We needed to speak with him,” Makoto says quietly, his hand falling to his side from where it had instinctively reached out after Rin.

“I don’t think he’s in the mood,” Nagisa says. For now, he’ll just have to trust Rin to keep his secret. He seems a bit preoccupied at the moment to be thinking about it, anyway.

 

* * *

 

 

Fifteen minutes later, they are released from office custody after the teacher sends an email to their faculty head explaining what has happened. The three of them take the train together back to Iwatobi in silence, not a word spoken between them. Even Nagisa doesn’t feel like talking, even though he has a lot he could talk about.

Haru and Makoto get off the train first, but not before giving Nagisa another warning to stay safe and not to put himself in unnecessary danger. Not that Nagisa thinks anything will happen between here and home. It’s not a long train ride, and he doesn’t have far to walk from the station to his house.

Although, he does wish something would happen. It’s a thought that keeps coming back to him, but he wants to transform again. He wants to feel that surge of power and to become a different person again, just for a little while. He can be a completely different person, as Rockhopper. Not just Nagisa, the boy with the girlish name and the teasing sisters and the friends who seem to have changed a lot in the past couple of years. No, he can be Rockhopper - the superhero with the ability to jump at least three metres high, who surely has several other amazing superpowers which Nagisa hasn’t had the chance to figure out yet. If only he could have half an hour, just to get to know this second half of him. He wouldn’t look for trouble - all he wants is to explore.

As though it can sense his feelings, the mark on his wrist becomes warm. It’s almost unnoticeable and would feel quite natural if it wasn’t for the tingling sensation that comes with it, the one which Nagisa can tell is an invitation.

Somehow, Nagisa isn't surprised that this is happening now, even though he's completely safe. Maybe he was wrong - maybe he can transform at will. Or maybe this is fate.

The next stop is still a few away from where he lives, but Nagisa gets off the train anyway, feeling a little self-conscious in his damp blazer. But not for long. He finds a dark alley and cups his tingling wrist in his other hand, staring down at the snowflake.

_‘Just for a little while,’_ Nagisa thinks, _‘please let me explore!’_

The snowflake does not refuse. The light engulfs Nagisa once again, warmth enveloping his body, but this time he is not afraid. He embraces the warmth, letting it fill his every pore as he watches the black bodysuit materialise onto his body. The light flashes and he stands once more in the alleyway, this time as a different person. Warmth settles within him and he grins. It’s time to explore.

He exits out the other side of the alley onto an unfamiliar street, but he isn’t worried. He’ll find his way easily enough. Jumping onto a low wall, he grabs a tree branch and hauls himself up. Then he hops over to the top of the nearest roof. It’s a small house, but this area is getting closer to the city, and the apartment blocks begin to escalate in the distance. He runs along the roof and hops to the next, feeling the power surge in his legs. As a normal person, this would be impossible. Now it’s real. He has superpowers.

It’s after about five minutes of hopping towards the city that he hears the commotion. In the mouth of an alley, a girl stands with her back against the wall, though she looks more like she wants to fade through it. She shrinks into herself as a man puts his hand on the wall beside her head, trapping her there. Two other men stand behind him, laughing.

Nagisa - no, _Rockhopper_ \- frowns and drops down from the rooftop, landing beside the girl, facing the man. “What are you doing?”

The man and the girl both flinch in shock. He feels bad for the girl, whose eyes widen in even more fear.

“Who the hell are you?” the man says, scowling. He takes his hand from the wall.

“I asked my question first,” Rockhopper says, crossing his arms.

The man’s scowl deepens. “Who do you think you are, brat?”

“Oh, just a passer-by.”

Rockhopper’s unconcerned nature makes the man angry, and he takes a step towards him. “This is none of your business. Why don’t you crawl back home, it's way past your bedtime.”

“Maybe once you let this girl go, sure,” he says, looking towards the girl. Her brown hair falls in front of her wide eyes, but she holds his stare through them. He looks back to the man.

“What’s she got to do with you?”

Perhaps this will take more effort than he had imagined. “I don’t know this girl personally, but I do know that it’s wrong to corner girls and make them feel as uncomfortable as you have been making her. Back off.”

The man takes another step towards Rockhopper. “Make me.”

His drunken friends cheer behind him, not making any moves on the girl. Still, both Rockhopper and the girl know that if she tries to run, they will hurt her.

Rockhopper braces himself, not wanting to be the one to inflict any violence first. This is exactly the type of situation Makoto and Haru were talking about when they told him not to get into any unnecessary danger. If he starts the fight, he’s sure he will not win it.

The man grows impatient and strikes out at him, a heavy hand aiming for his head.

He ducks out of the way. Quickly, he grabs the man’s outstretched arm and bends it back into a position which causes him to cry out. The man swings his other arm, but Rockhopper is too quick for it. He pushes the man backwards away from both him and the girl.

Grabbing the girl's arm, he says only one word. “Run.”

Without hesitation, the two of them run through the alley towards the fully-lit streets, in the direction of the train station. He can hear footsteps chasing after him, and he knows he could outrun them, but this girl cannot. She isn't fast enough. He can't let her stay out here, or they'll catch up. As soon as they reach a public area, he points the girl towards a family restaurant.

“Go inside that restaurant. I’ll try to shake these guys off, and I’ll come get you when it’s all clear.”

The girl nods before running into the restaurant.

Rockhopper watches her go, then runs back in the direction of the footsteps, meeting the men in another alley. “You’re a lot slower than I expected.”

“You little punk,” the man growls. He no longer seems to care about the girl. He lashes out at Rockhopper, clawing his hands forward like a bear. But he’s slow. His size and gait makes his movements slower, which gives Rockhopper the advantage. Within a minute, the man is on the ground, and his cronies have fled in fear.

“Swear to me,” Rockhopper says, “that you will never alienate and harass anyone like that again.”

“Why should I?”

“Because you’ll get a lot worse than this, next time.” Rockhopper knows he would never hurt someone seriously, but the man doesn’t know this. He sighs and mutters an agreement, letting his head hit the gravel once more.

Rockhopper leaves the man in the alley and jogs back to the restaurant, where the girl sits alone at one of the booths, sipping a soft drink. She looks up when she hears the door, and her shoulders relax upon seeing him.

“Thank you so much,” she says once he reaches her table. “I don’t know what I would have done if you didn’t help me back there. I thought I was a goner.”

“It’s okay,” he says. “Are you okay to get back home?”

She nods. “My mum’s going to pick me up here. I don’t really want to walk alone after that.”

Rockhopper smiles. “Good. I’m glad you’re safe. I need to go now, but stay safe, okay?”

“Oh wait! Before you go, what’s your name?”

He remembers his thoughts from earlier and his smile widens. This is really happening. “Rockhopper.”

Her eyes widen. “Are you a superhero?”

He merely winks at her before leaving the restaurant and taking to the rooftops once more. The breeze cools his face after the warmth of the restaurant and the fight.

When he transformed, he hadn't expected for that to happen. Even though he knows his friends will kill him if he tells them about this, though, he doesn't regret it. Now at least he knows he can fight. He isn't defenceless.

He still can't help but feel like there is something more to his powers than running, jumping and fighting, but he doesn't have the time to figure it out. His parents are probably wondering where he is, and his dinner might be cold, if there's any left. Jumping down into an alley a few rooftops along, he detransforms and heads toward the train station. Hopefully he'll be home for dessert, at least.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In the day, Nagisa fixes up the pool. At night, he explores.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a little slow, oops. But it was still a lot of fun to write (nagiharu friendship anyone?) and next chapter, a very special character will finally reappear...

“Idiots!”

Nagisa, Makoto and Haru hang their heads as the teacher yells at them. Well, Nagisa and Makoto hang their heads. Haru doesn’t look as though he feels guilty at all. He’s probably just happy that he got to swim with Rin again. Nagisa can’t blame him; the only reason he feels guilty is because he got Makoto into trouble again.

“Do you actually feel bad about what you’ve done?!”

“Sorry,” Makoto and Nagisa say.

“First you trespass in an abandoned building, now you trespass in another school’s pool?!” The teacher puts his hand to his eyes, sighing. “Honestly, we’re lucky that they’ve agreed not to make a big deal out of this.”

Footsteps come towards them and a bright voice says, “Now, now, I think that’s enough.” It's a teacher with light brown hair and sympathetic eyes. “There’s a famous saying that applies to this situation: ‘In Ancient China during the Shang Dynasty, Duke Tai of Qi would fish without any bait-’”

“I hate fish.”

The female teacher bows deeply in shame. “Excuse me.”

In the end, the teacher lets them go with a firm warning. Nagisa thinks that was pretty good of the teacher to do that for them, but Makoto is less impressed.

“We can’t get into any more trouble like this,” he says. “We’ve already got a bad record.”

“That other teacher tried to help,” Nagisa says, “but she wasn’t much help.”

Makoto shrugs. “Speaking of which, I wonder how that fish saying goes. Haru, do you know?” He turns to look at their silent companion, only to see that he has disappeared. “Eh?”

“Haru-chan’s already over there.” Nagisa points towards where Haru has already left the building.

“When did that happen?” Makoto sighs. He’s used to Nagisa’s antics by now, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t get caught by surprise every now and then.

Nagisa is about to say something when he hears footsteps approaching them from behind. He turns to see Gou walking toward them purposefully, her hair flicking behind her. “Ah, Gou-chan!”

“I told you to call me Kou,” she says, glaring.

“Does it really matter?”

“It does! My name is Kou!”

“Okay, okay,” Nagisa says. “I’ll call you Kou.”

“Thank you,” she huffs.

Makoto smiles gently at her. “So, did you want to talk to us, Kou-chan?”

“Yes,” she says, smiling at his use of her preferred pronoun. “Could we find somewhere else to talk about this, though?”

The three of them make their way to the stairwell, where they stop in front of a large window. Kou stands opposite them, hands in front of her, making her look oddly shy.

“So, were you able to see my brother?” she asks.

“Yeah, about that,” Nagisa says, recalling the events of last night. “Rin-chan’s so mean! We haven’t seen each other in four years, and the first thing he does is challenge Haru-chan to a race. He completely ignored me and Mako-chan. We didn’t get a chance to talk about anything!” He leaves out the fact that Rin acted less moody the night before when they had met him, and that his sulkiness could be to do with Nagisa’s alter ego.

“Have you heard anything from Rin, Kou-chan?” Makoto asks.

Kou shakes her head. “I’ve sent him emails and called his cell without any luck. I even called his dorm number and nobody picked up.”

“How come Rin-chan’s changed so much?” Nagisa says. The Rin he remembers wasn’t this moody, even if he could be mean at times. “Did something happen in Australia?”

“I don’t know.” Kou looks down, eyes dark. “I was hoping he’d open up after seeing you guys.”

Makoto gasps and Nagisa looks up at him, startled by the sudden noise. “Were you responsible for Rin showing up at the swimming club?”

Kou flinches. “I wouldn’t say that I was responsible! I was just trying to help. I happened to overhear your conversation, so I sent him a text. He never replied.”

“That’s why you went to Haru’s house yesterday?” Makoto says.

“Yes. I was hoping he could give me some answers.”

As they talk, Nagisa thinks over their past with Rin. Friends who swam together in a relay, separated when one moved to Australia. They reunited years later, only to find their friend is an entirely different person. Even though they live close to each other now, it feels like they’re even farther apart. The only connection they seem to have left with Rin is the fact that they’re all swimmers, and there isn’t even a swimming club in Iwatobi anymore, so that connection is sure to disappear.

Unless…

“Hey, I have an idea,” Nagisa says. He turns to Makoto. “Let’s start a swim club!”

Kou moves a little closer as Makoto makes a sound of surprise.

The words tumble out of Nagisa’s mouth faster than he can think them through, but the idea broadens so much he can’t keep it in his head. “That way, we can see Rin-chan at tournaments! Then we can talk to him again!”

“I’m not sure Haru will be on board with that,” Makoto says, uncertain.

“It’ll be fine!” Nagisa says. “Haru-chan will definitely join us.” When they were younger, Haru had been stubborn about not joining the relay, but when Rin let Nagisa join, Haru had joined as well. With the possibility of the four of them being together once more, surely Haru will agree.

The three of them walk together to Haru’s house, chatting about the swim club plan amongst other topics. At one point, Kou talks for a few minutes about her friend, who swears she was saved by a superhero the night before.

“Seriously, it’s all she’ll talk about,” she says. “I love her to pieces, but I don’t know where she got this idea from.”

“It must have been a weird dream,” Nagisa says, though he feels Makoto’s disapproving eyes boring into him at the lie. He doesn’t need to look at him to know he’s going to get a lecture later on.

 

* * *

 

 

When they reach Haru’s house, it doesn’t take much other than an unanswered knock at the door to figure out where Haru is. They enter through the back door and Kou stays downstairs as Nagisa and Makoto head to the bathroom upstairs. Sure enough, Haru is in the bath, still wearing his jammers. Nagisa spills their plan to him as soon as they get into the bathroom, too excited to wait for greetings.

Once Nagisa finishes speaking, Haru shrugs. “Whatever. Knock yourselves out.”

“Really?” Nagisa springs forward, excitement filling him. “Yay! We’re good to go then. I’m so excited!”

Haru turns his head away, but Nagisa thinks Haru looks excited too.

Downstairs, Kou sits at the table in the living room. She covers her eyes when Haru enters, knowing he’s been in the bath. Nagisa finds it a little funny, considering Haru doesn’t care much about others seeing his body, but he doesn’t tease her. Nagisa and Makoto join Kou at the table as Haru dries his hair.

“Are you sure about this?” Makoto asks Haru. “We won’t be doing this by ourselves. You’re expected to join the club, too.”

“I know,” Haru says without pause.

Haru dries his arms, then looks over to Kou.

“Oh yeah, Haru-chan wasn’t with us yesterday,” Nagisa says. “This is Rin-chan’s sister.”

At this point, Kou isn’t bothering to hide her admiring stare. She sobers up at the introduction.

“H-hello. It’s been a long time,” she says.

“Matsuoka,” Haru says, pausing to find the name, “Kou?”

Kou smiles broadly. “Yes! I’m sorry about what my brother did yesterday.”

Haru pulls on his blue hoodie. “It’s fine.” He walks through to the kitchen area, tying an apron on top of his hoodie.

“Ah, if you’re making tea, I have some squid to go with it,” Makoto says.

“What? Wouldn’t chocolate be better?” Nagisa says.

“We’ll compromise and have mackerel,” Haru says.

“That’s not a compromise!” Nagisa says. He stands and heads into the kitchen. “I’ll give you a hand.”

He half-listens to Makoto and Kou’s conversation about their trophy as he brews the tea in the teapot, laying out some cups as Haru finds some food for them to eat. He pours the tea and takes it through on a tray. Kou and Makoto are looking at the picture of the four of them at the relay.

“Everyone’s smiling,” Kou says.

“Actually, Haru’s the sole exception in this photo,” Makoto says.

“Haru-chan’s always smiling on the inside,” Nagisa says, crouching to offer the tea to Kou. As stubborn and stoic as Haru is, Nagisa doesn’t believe his statement is a lie. Haru’s more emotional than most people expect when they see him.

“You make him sound like a bad person,” Kou says. The three of them laugh at the thought.

A moment later, they’re back in their seats, with the exception of Haru, who is frying squid.

“Is this the first time Rin’s come back to Japan since he left?” Makoto asks.

“Huh? He came back every year for New Year’s,” Kou says.

“Really?!” Nagisa says, leaning forward. “And he never told us? That’s mean.” A feeling of hurt spreads inside of him. All those letters he sent to Rin, never replied to…

They speak for a while longer about Rin before Kou leaves, needing to catch her train back home. Nagisa and Makoto stay a while longer, knowing there’s something else they need to talk about.

“What was Kou-chan talking about earlier?” Makoto says. “When she was saying about her friend.”

“What do you mean?” Nagisa tries to lie, though his nervous laughter detracts from the effect.

Haru gives him a suspecting glance and Nagisa gulps.

“She said her friend wouldn’t stop talking about a superhero,” Makoto says. “One who saved her last night.”

Nagisa gives a nervous laugh and looks down, unnerved by his friends’ suspicion. “It was a dream, right?”

“Nagisa,” Haru says.

The sound of his name from Haru is all it takes to guilt-trip Nagisa into telling the truth. “Okay, so I transformed again last night. I was hopping over the rooftops when I saw a girl being threatened by some nasty-looking guys. I couldn’t just leave her there!”

“How did you even transform?” Makoto says. “And why did you think it was a good idea to travel by roofs? You could have been injured!”

“I’m fine, aren’t I?” Nagisa says. “And I figured out that all I need is to want something really badly, something I need to transform for. I really wanted to see what I can do as Rockhopper.”

“And you ended up in a fight,” Makoto says.

“I didn’t get hurt.”

“What did we say about unnecessary danger? Nagisa, you could get badly hurt. Can’t you see why we’re worried?”

Nagisa looks from Makoto’s concerned face to Haru’s. Even though Haru doesn’t show his emotions often, Nagisa can see he’s worried Haru too. He looks down and sighs. “I’m sorry for worrying you.”

Haru looks at him for a second before saying, “Just don’t get yourself hurt.”

“Yeah. We just want you to be careful, okay?”

Looking up, Nagisa meets Makoto’s eyes. Their eyes meet, and Nagisa thinks maybe Makoto is relenting. “Does that mean I can transform?”

“It’s not like we can stop you,” Haru says.

“Just be careful,” Makoto says again, stressing the word careful.

“I will, I promise.” Nagisa smiles at his friends. “Thanks, Mako-chan, Haru-chan. I’m glad I found you guys again.”

Makoto smiles at him, and even Haru looks a little happier than before.

Nagisa can’t help but smile, looking at them. He is so glad he has his friends beside him and that he’s not alone anymore.

 

* * *

 

 

The next day at school, Nagisa calls a club meeting at lunch.

“Since everyone’s on board, I picked up a new club application form.” He shows them the blank form with a smile.

“You move fast,” Makoto says.

“It’s important to get the ball rolling!” Nagisa pulls a pen out of his pocket and starts to fill in the form. “Let’s see, the purpose of this club is to train our minds and bodies through swimming and improve the school experience.” He scrawls the words as he speaks them, ideas flowing through the pen onto the paper.

They spend the rest of lunchtime filling out the form and delegating roles, then hunting down Amakata-sensei (the teacher who helped them out the day before) and asking for her to be their adviser. Luckily, she agrees, and a few days later, their club application is approved. The only requirement is that they must find one more member, and that they have to renovate the school’s outdoor pool, which has been overtaken by nature over the years.

In the daytime, Nagisa spends his time fixing the pool with his friends or doing homework. At night, Nagisa develops a habit of sneaking out of the house and exploring Iwatobi as his alter ego. He grows to love the feeling of the wind going through his hair, the exhilaration of being on top of the world and watching it continue underneath him (even if he’s only a few storeys off the ground). Most nights are uneventful, only filled with him jumping from rooftop to rooftop, seeing how high he can jump, how far he can run in one go.

One night, he figures out a special power, completely by accident. Wiping a bug off his wrist, he doesn’t expect a microchip-sized snowflake to pop out of where his mark is. It floats in the air for a second before growing to the size of a frisbee and falling into Nagisa’s hand. It feels metallic, like a large shuriken. He takes it to an abandoned area and throws it at walls and bins. It dents a couple of the bins and scares away a few cats, so Nagisa deems it a useful tool in case he has to fight a supervillain.

Speaking of which, there haven’t been any manga-like supervillains at all in Iwatobi. Nagisa thought that if a superhero appeared, a supervillain had to appear, but that isn’t the case, apparently. He doesn’t regret his night-time excursions, though, even if they make him sleep late in the morning.

 

* * *

 

 

Over the next few weeks, they slowly fix up the pool. Nagisa sets off on a mission, scouting for new members. He and Haru draw posters (his, an abstract mesh of colour, Haru’s a true work of art which almost loses him to the art club). Haru carves Iwatobi-chan mascot phone straps out of wood, which Nagisa uses to try to bribe people into joining the club. It doesn’t work.

(At one point, when he’s trying to persuade a second year, he swears he sees a flash of blue hair out of the corner of his eye. When he looks again, it’s gone. Surely he wasn’t imagining it. Then again, how likely is it that he would turn up here after all this time?)

Nagisa even resorts to suggesting that they use Amakata-sensei as a reason for people to join. That turns out to be a bad idea when Amakata-sensei shows up, eyes flaming with anger. After that, there isn’t much else he can think of other than to keep pressing on, trying to bribe people with the appeal of Iwatobi-chan straps.

One day, he and Haru are painting the pool walls with an extra coat of blue. It’s a beautiful spring day, the type which fools you into believing it’s summer, only for it to still be cold outside. Nagisa waves to Kou when she arrives and turns back to the wall as she goes to speak to Makoto by the fence where he’s working.

Nagisa feels a yawn in the back of his throat and stifles it with his empty hand.

Haru stops painting and looks over to him. “Are you tired?”

“I had a late night,” Nagisa says with a guilty smile.

“Exploring?”

‘Exploring’ has become their code-word for transforming into Rockhopper and running around all night. “Yeah. It was a lot of fun, but I didn’t realise how late it was!”

Haru turns back to the wall, stroking the brush against it. “You’re enjoying yourself.”

“Of course I am! Wouldn’t you, if you could do that?” Nagisa says, avoiding saying it directly in case they’re overheard.

“Not really.” Haru shrugs. “It seems like a lot of responsibility.”

“It’s not like I’ve got a duty or anything, though,” Nagisa says.

“You saved that girl.”

“That was a coincidence.”

“If you keep running into coincidences like that, you’ll have a duty.”

Nagisa looks at the wall, thinking about Haru’s words. The way he says ‘duty’ makes it sound like a lot of work, but Nagisa doesn’t think he’d mind saving people if they were in trouble. If there isn’t anyone to help those in need, then there will only be more suffering, right? In that case, Nagisa doesn’t mind helping people out if he can.

“Even if I get a duty,” Nagisa says. “I’ll be careful. Don’t worry, Haru-chan.”

Haru looks at him for a second, eyes a little wider than usual, then goes back to painting the wall.

In the distance, Nagisa hears Kou raise her voice.

“If you’re willing to have me, I can serve as your manager and help you out!”

Nagisa turns round, his interest piqued. “Ooh, what’s going on?”

“Kou-chan offered to join the swim club,” Makoto calls over, grinning.

“What? Really? That means the swim club is officially open for business! Yay!” He gives a celebratory fist pump before turning to Haru. He’s still facing the wall, but the corners of his lips are turned up. Nagisa feels his smile widen. Everything is getting even better now. Nagisa’s getting even more excited to start swimming.

 

* * *

 

 

A couple of days later, they officially fill the pool for the first time as a test run. Amakata-sensei hands each of them a purifying tablet to throw into the pool and a cup of juice as a reward for their hard work. They throw their tablets into the pool and raise their cups in celebration.

“It’s too cold to swim yet, but it’s nice to see it full,” Makoto says.

As though he heard none of Makoto’s words, Haru strips his shirt off and undoes his belt buckle. By the time Makoto notices, Haru is already wearing only his jammers. He dives into the pool, egged on by Kou’s gleeful ogling and Nagisa’s own cheers.

“It’s too cold,” Makoto says, to no avail.

“He looks comfortable enough,” Nagisa says, watching Haru’s peaceful face as he floats past them.

“I guess you’re right- wait, his lips are turning purple!” Kou exclaims.

“Haru, get out of the water before you catch a cold!”

Haru swims away from them, tuning out Makoto’s words.

“Go, Haru-chan!” Nagisa cheers him on to Makoto’s dismay.

“I’ll find a net,” Kou says, rushing to the supply closet.

“A net?” Makoto and Amakata-sensei chorus.

Nagisa laughs, feeling lighter than he has in a long time. Seeing his friends, both old and new, having this much fun is refreshing. This summer, he thinks, is going to be the best one yet.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our heroes are finally reunited, but telling Rei his secret might be the most difficult thing Nagisa ever does.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter and the ones after it have been the most fun to write so far, I think. I am so glad Rei is finally in the fic. I hope you all enjoy this chapter!

Nagisa’s excitement over having created a swimming club is short-lived. It’s not due to lack of interest, of course. Rather, it's their limitations. Two days after they fill the pool for the first time, he realises that they can’t enter any tournaments or swim in a relay without a fourth swimmer. Even though Rin has joined his school’s swim team now, they can’t swim with him if they don’t have enough members. The only way for them to be able to swim with their friend once more is to find a fourth swimmer. In the back of his mind, Nagisa realises it sounds like he's looking for a replacement for Rin. He doesn’t intend to treat their new member as a replacement, though. They’ll still be an honorary member of the Iwatobi Swim Club, after all. But making up with Rin is still important to him.

He joins the throng of people aboard the train that takes them to the school, finding a seat close to one of the doors. Sighing, he leans his head back against the window. Although he’s desperate to find another member for the swim club, it’ll be difficult to find one now. Most students have already joined other clubs. Besides, with the amount of rejections he received earlier, it’s unlikely that the club will have gotten any more popular.

He won’t give up. Still, it’s getting harder to persevere when the odds are completely against him.

Closing his eyes, he thinks for a while about flying through the sky and flying through the water, two completely different sides of him. A superhero alter-ego, a silhouette against the night sky, and a swimmer, borne into the waves of the sea. In between, there should be a balance. But recently it’s felt like more of his time has been spent fixing up the pool than exploring, and he’s always exhausted whenever he does explore because of his late-night trips. He knows he needs to find that balance, but sometimes it’s easier to not think too hard about it.

Opening his eyes, he looks up. A glimpse of blue catches his interest, and he glances over.

Wait.

Blue hair. Sculpted arms. Pronounced cheekbones. Nerdy red glasses. The hint of a mark on his wrist, barely visible because of how he’s holding his book.

“Ryugazaki-kun?!”

Violet eyes widen and swing towards him. “H-Hazuki-kun?!”

More than anything, Ryugazaki’s voice confirms his identity. Nagisa sits up, excitement flooding through his veins. This is it, the reunion. “So you do go to Iwatobi High!”

Ryugazaki blushes, flustered, and pushes his glasses up his nose. “Y-yes, I do.”

“That’s great!” Nagisa says. “I’m so glad to see you! There’s something really important I need to talk to you about-”

“This is my stop,” Ryugazaki says, tucking his book away. Indeed, the train is slowing down, shaking its passengers as it reaches the platform. “Sorry, I need to go.” He exits the train before Nagisa can say anything.

“The school is still a stop away,” Nagisa says, watching him leave. His excitement begins to calm down, replaced by worry. Does Ryugazaki not want to see him? That can’t be the case. Then again, with the way he was acting… Nagisa hopes he didn’t scare Ryugazaki into leaving a stop early.

A moment later, his worry subsides as he sees Ryugazaki jogging along the path the train line passes. He watches in awe, seeing how athletic his friend must be. And if that is his ‘stop’, as he put it, that must mean he runs that route every day. Nagisa can see how Ryugazaki would be a good superhero, even without the enhanced abilities the mark gives them.

Now he is fully awake and determined to speak to Ryugazaki again later. After all, they’re obviously destined to be friends.

 

* * *

 

 

“Wow! We can swim here in the off-season?” Nagisa says. “Awesome!”

Kou nods from behind the paper in her hands. It’s a flier for a local gym, complete with a picture of some runners and a large indoor pool. It’s every high school swimmer’s dream to swim in a pool as nice as the one pictured.

“Right?” Kou pulls the paper away from her face. She looks pleased with her work as the team’s official manager. “I’m thinking that schools like us without indoor pools probably use facilities like these.”

“Way to go, Kou-chan! Our super manager!”

Kou’s smile widens for a moment before she looks to a spot behind Nagisa and Makoto. “Haruka-senpai?”

Nagisa and Makoto look round to Haru. Where before he was beside the pool, now he steps between them and takes the flier from Kou’s hands to look at it. His eyebrows are close together in thought.

Smiling, Nagisa notices how interested Haru looks. For someone who doesn’t like wasting energy, he looks interested in going to this indoor pool.

“How do we pay for it?” Haru asks.

“With our club budget, of course,” Kou says.

“Ah, I see,” Nagisa says.

“This gym is pretty expensive to join,” Makoto says. He looks over to Haru. “If our club budget will really cover that…”

Haru’s eyes are shining with excitement.

“'This is the real reason we started a swim club.’ That’s probably what you’re thinking,” Makoto says, narrating Haru’s thoughts in an intense impersonation of him.

Haru looks up at him with a raised eyebrow, unimpressed. Then he looks away. “Shut up.”

“This means we can swim year round!” Nagisa raises his arms in celebration.

“We’ll need to ask Ama-chan-sensei first,” Makoto says, smiling nonetheless. “But I’m glad you’re excited.”

Just a few minutes later, they are shot down spectacularly on the basis that they haven’t done anything to merit a budget large enough to cover the costs of a gym membership. Amakata tops off her reason with a quote which doesn't relate to swimming from what Nagisa and Makoto can tell.

“So we’ll get the money if we deliver accomplishments?” Kou asks.

“I suppose. That’s the best way to secure lots of money for your club.”

“Accomplishments,” Haru murmurs as his friends gasp.

“So what if we can place in a summer tournament?” Makoto says.

“Your request might be approved at the second term budget review meeting, but you’ll need at least four swimmers to bolster your case.”

“So it’s meaningless if we can’t find another member,” Makoto says.

Behind them, Nagisa sees Haru move and murmur something to himself. He says the last part loud enough for everyone to hear. “…And I can swim all I want!”

“Huh?”

Haru walks quickly out of the room and into the hall.

“Haru?”

“Haru-chan looks motivated now,” Nagisa says. Haru doesn't walk that quickly for just anything.

The three follow Haru to see him approach two students further up the hall. He shows them an Iwatobi-chan strap and says something. The students shake their heads and leave. To be fair, the look on Haru’s face was quite intimidating.

“It’s hopeless,” Makoto says with a sigh. “That’s the best Haru can manage.”

“Haru-chan, don’t mind!” Nagisa calls.

 

* * *

 

 

After school, Nagisa finds himself in front of one of the school notice boards, pinning one of his fliers to it. At this point, the poster doesn’t look like it will be enough to attract a fourth swimmer to their team. Stepping back, he thinks perhaps it isn’t noticeable enough. “Should the posters be flashier?” he asks himself aloud.

He hears footsteps approach his direction and turn a corner. He looks over.

“Ah! Wait, Ryugazaki-kun!”

He follows Ryugazaki into the shoe-locker room, forgetting all about the posters.

“Let’s go home together! I need to tell you something important.”

Ryugazaki doesn’t look at him as he puts his indoor shoes into his locker. “I have club practice now.”

“Club practice?”

“I’m on the track team.” He pulls a pair of sports shoes from the locker, as though proving his point.

“Oh,” Nagisa says.

Ryugazaki nods curtly to him before making his way out of the building towards the track field.

Nagisa can’t help but feel like Ryugazaki is being a little cold to him. It’s almost as though it’s another Rin, once kind to him, but now trying his best to ignore him. He feels a little hurt, but that doesn’t put him off. He can always talk to Ryugazaki later.

He looks over to Ryugazaki’s shoe locker, thinking about how the track team suits him. He was running earlier, and he does seem athletic. Being that athletic should make it easy for him as a superhero.

Nagisa is about to turn away when he sees it. He does a double take.

This has to be fate.

He almost runs to the club room, where he finds his friends already gathered.

“What took you so long?” Kou asks, holding a clipboard. “I was just going to talk to you guys about how we can convince people to join up.”

“I need to show you something!” Nagisa says, panting.

“What is it?” Makoto asks.

“Is it that important?” Kou asks. “Couldn’t you show us later?”

“It’s really important! Come on, or we’ll miss him.”

As Nagisa leads the group out of the club room, Makoto catches up with him. “‘Him’? So it’s a someone?”

Nagisa smiles at Makoto. “He was there on that day,” he says, gesturing to his wrist.

Makoto gives a hum of recognition and doesn’t question him further.

Halfway to the playing field, Nagisa has to grab Haru’s hand and drag him for him to keep up. Haru complains a little, but he doesn’t refuse to go with them, which Nagisa counts as a small victory. He’s still dragging Haru when they reach the playing field where the track club is practising.

“Track practice?” Kou says. “Is this all you wanted to show us? If it’s for a new member, they can’t join if they’re already in a club.”

Nagisa hadn’t actually thought about asking him to join the swim club. Maybe after he tells him their secret, he can ask.

“Which one?” Haru says.

“Over there, stretching.” He points to the blue-haired boy by the pole vault. Ryugazaki looks even more handsome in the light of the day, his muscles highlighted in his track shirt. Rather than his usual glasses, he’s wearing running glasses with an orange tint on the lenses. Somehow he suits them, even though they look dorky.

“It’s fate for him to join us,” Nagisa says, talking more about him becoming their friend than him joining their club. Still, Haru and Kou don’t realise the difference.

“Was he on the swim team in middle school?” Haru says.

“Does he hold a record?” Kou says.

“His name is the most important thing!” Nagisa says. “His name is Ryugazaki Rei-chan!” Saying his name aloud sends a rush of electricity through his veins. He can’t begin to express the excitement he felt when he saw that Rei has the same type of girlish name as Nagisa and his friends do. Even almost a year after meeting him, Nagisa had no idea until now. Still, this has to be fate. “He’s a boy with a girly name!”

“That’s your reason?” Kou sounds shocked, her eyes wide. Once Nagisa nods his affirmation, she leans back to look at Rei. “I have to agree, though. Look at those deltoids…”

This time, Makoto is the one in shock. “That’s your reason?!”

“Hey, it looks like he’s about to jump,” Haru interjects.

The group turn to the pole vault. Rei stands at the end of the running lane, pole in hands. He murmurs to himself, moving the pole as though gauging the distance between himself and the mat. After a moment, he takes a breath and begins to run. Striking the pole onto the end of the running lane, he pushes his weight up and soars into the air, curving expertly over the horizontal bar above the mat.

Nagisa’s heart stops.

Rei falls onto the mat, and he returns to being an average student once more. But for a second, when suspended in mid-air, Rei looked like a bird, or a butterfly, flying, silhouetted against the sky. He looked graceful, perfect, beautiful. Even now he has fallen, Nagisa can’t forget the image of him in the sky. He wonders for a moment what he would look like at night, with the two of them running across rooftops together.

“What a beautiful form. He’s probably a great diver,” Makoto says, mostly for the benefit of Kou and Haru.

“Yes! And his biceps are also beautiful!” Kou says, eyes shining.

Nagisa doesn’t hear Makoto’s response, too absorbed in watching Rei mutter something underneath his breath. He looks displeased for some reason, as though his jump wasn’t perfect. Perhaps he does think his jump wasn’t perfect. Nagisa doesn’t do track, so he wouldn’t know. But Rei was beautiful at that moment, and Nagisa won’t let himself forget that.

 

* * *

 

 

An hour or so later, the sun is setting, bathing the town in a yellowy shade. Nagisa arrives at the train station early, drinking a strawberry yogurt and waiting to hear the train arriving. Everything is peaceful and quiet. It’s nice to have this moment between the excitement of club meetings and the cacophony of sound his house produces.

Instead of a train, the first thing he hears approaching is a set of footsteps which stop outside as the person stands by the platform. Nagisa looks out and sees Rei, engulfed once more in a book. He stands, feeling excitement flood through him once more.

“Hey, Rei-chan!”

Rei stops and sputters, “R-Rei-chan?!”

“Did you notice, before?” Nagisa says, ignoring Rei’s reaction. “We both have girlish names. You can call me by my first name too, if you’d like.”

“We’re not that close,” Rei says.

“Oh, come on, Rei-chan! We had an adventure together! Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten.”

“How could I forget? It was the most traumatic thing that happened to me all summer.”

Nagisa blinks. “Which part?”

“All of it! The storm, the darkness, not to mention when we both blacked out without warning.”

“Okay, that was all pretty scary, but didn’t you have fun?” Nagisa says. “Didn’t you feel like something amazing was happening?”

For a moment, Rei doesn’t answer, and Nagisa thinks he’s going to agree. But then he shakes his head. “Not at all.”

“So you don’t even wonder why we both blacked out when we pulled the lever?” Nagisa presses.

“Electric shock, I presume.”

“It was fate, Rei-chan!” Nagisa says. “I’m telling you, something amazing happened that night-”

The rest of his words are blocked out by the sound of the incoming train, and before Nagisa can say anything else, Rei is already boarding.

“I’ll see you later, Hazuki-kun,” Rei says.

Nagisa boards right after him, but Rei has already waded through into another carriage, and Nagisa can’t keep up, blocked by the throng of people. He sighs and takes an empty seat. This is going to take a lot more work than he had planned.

 

* * *

 

 

The next day, Nagisa joins Haru and Makoto in their classroom at lunch. Haru is drawing a poster at his desk with a handsome swimmer atop a rock, surrounded by crashing waves, flag banners, and the words, “Join us and swim!”. The more Nagisa looks at the picture, the more he thinks it might be Rei. Then again, it hasn’t been coloured yet, and it could be anyone.

“Did you have any luck?” Haru asks.

Nagisa blinks at him, wondering if he told Haru yesterday about his plans. Then he remembers that he didn’t tell anyone. “Huh?”

“With the track guy. Getting him to join.”

“Oh. Actually, Haru-chan, that’s not what I was talking to him about…”

Haru furrows his eyebrows. “Then why did you drag us to see him during practice?”

“Because he was there with me when this happened,” Nagisa says, raising his wrist so his mark shows under his sleeve. “I haven’t seen him since then, and I wanted to tell him about that thing we figured out.” He just has to hope Haru understands what he means. He can’t just say out loud that he wanted to talk about being superheroes.

“Oh,” Haru says.

“Although we could invite him to join the team,” Makoto says. “He’s athletic, and it means we could keep the secret closer.”

“I don’t think we’d have much luck. He’s already on the track team, and besides, it doesn’t sound like he wants to talk to me anyway.” Nagisa looks down. With how Rei was acting last night, it didn’t sound like he was too pleased with Nagisa talking to him so casually.

“We need a fourth swimmer anyway,” Makoto says. “Wouldn’t it be easiest if you can persuade him to join?”

“I’ll try,” Nagisa says, and leaves the conversation at that.

 

* * *

 

 

That evening, after their swim club strategy meeting, Nagisa makes his way to the track field. The last of the club members are still practising or cooling down, so there aren’t many people around. Nagisa stays at the edge of the field, keeping out of their way. If he can speak to Rei when he’s done with practice, that will be enough for him.

In the setting sun, Rei is already getting ready to jump. He murmurs to himself, moving the pole until it’s in the right position, then lunges forward into a run. Striking the pole down, he hauls himself into the air.

The wind blows dust around him, and Rei falters in mid-air. Despite himself, Nagisa gasps at the same time as Rei does. A moment later, Rei is on the mat, the bar crashing on top of his legs before rolling onto his arm. He clutches his arm and rolls over to kneel on the mat.

Nagisa can’t help but stare. Even though Rei is capable of beautiful jumps, he still managed to get one wrong. It’s not the fact that he got it wrong that Nagisa is surprised at, but more the reaction he has to it. The disappointment in his face. The downward curve of his eyebrows.

“Ryugazaki,” his coach says. “Are you running calculations in your head before jumping?”

Calculations? Nagisa feels his eyes widen. Such an unorthodox way of jumping, and yet it can work out so beautifully and so terribly…

“Your form is perfect, but that’s all you have. You’re too focused on the technical side.”

“But I-”

“I understand that’s your style, but you’re not going to improve at this rate.”

Rei’s eyes widen in shock before he looks down, pressing his lips together. At his sides, his hands clench into fists, but he remains silent as he stands and collects his things.

Quietly, unseen, Nagisa slips away, feeling distinctly as though he’s overheard something he wasn’t meant to hear.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nagisa keeps trying, and some developments occur.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going to try to update once every two weeks now. The next chapter should be out on the 11th, so keep an eye out!

The next day after school, Kou gathers everyone by the pool for an announcement.

“I have good news for everyone today,” she says, clasping her hands behind her back. Then the claps her hands in front of her chest, leaning forward. “Amazingly enough, I was able to schedule a joint practice with Samezuka!”

“What? Really?” Nagisa says. This could be their chance to swim with Rin again!

“Did you ask Rin?” Makoto asks, thinking along the same lines.

“My brother won’t listen to me, so I went straight to their captain.”

“That’s our super manager, Kou-chan!”

Kou beams at him.

“That means we have permission to swim in Samezuka’s indoor pool now.” Makoto looks over to Haru with a smile.

Before they can get their hopes up too far, though, Kou keeps speaking. “But since it’s a joint practice, we need to bring four members at a minimum.”

Nagisa’s hopes fall. If they need a fourth member, then it’s going to be difficult to find one on such short notice.

Haru looks over to him. “What about that guy from the other day?”

“But Haru-chan, Rei-chan’s on the track team already,” Nagisa says. When he casts his mind back to last night, though, he can only remember the hurt and disappointed look on Rei’s face at what his coach told him. If Rei was on the swim team, Nagisa would never make him feel like he was worthless like that. Perhaps Rei would consider joining them in this situation, and perhaps even more so once Nagisa tells him his discovery. Then again, it’s all going to depend on whether Rei will talk to Nagisa again.

“Don’t worry too much,” Makoto says, directing his caring smile at Nagisa. “We’ll find a new member.”

Nagisa meets his eyes and nods, though for once he can’t conjure up his usual enthusiasm.

 

* * *

 

 

By the next morning, Nagisa has made up his mind. He steps off the train a station before his usual stop, taking in the cool breeze and the springtime blossoms. Soon it will be summer, but at the moment, it’s still too cold to swim. They can’t afford to waste this time.

He enters the station shelter and sees Rei at the other side stretching. Rei lowers his arms and checks his watch.

“Wait, Rei-chan!” Nagisa says.

Rei stiffens. He turns his head towards Nagisa, his eyebrows furrowed. “What do you want?”

“Can I run with you?” Nagisa is already wearing his school gym uniform. Even if Rei won’t let him run with him, he’ll still run _near_ him.

Rei’s eyes widen for a second before he sighs and turns back to his watch. “If you can keep up.”

Nagisa grins and follows Rei out of the shelter. “Okay!”

As they run, Nagisa is reminded of his childhood. The days when he would run alongside his friends to the swimming club are far in the past, but they’re still fond memories.

“This brings back memories. I used to run with Haru-chan to the swimming club like this in elementary school. Haru-chan always played it cool and said, ‘If you can keep up.’” Nagisa keeps running as he speaks, almost missing where Rei turns a corner.

“Who’s this Haru-chan?” Rei asks.

“He’s my friend,” Nagisa says. Inside, he feels happy that Rei is talking to him.

They spend a minute running in silence before Rei finally asks, “What do you want?”

Now is his chance. “I want to talk to you about something important.”

“I know that much,” Rei says. “But why me? Surely there’s someone else you can talk to.”

Nagisa stops running, confused. “Of course there isn’t. Why would you think that?”

Rei also stops running and turns back to face Nagisa. His expression is serious, eyebrows drawn in and mouth set in a frown. “You want to ask me to join the swim club, right?”

For a moment, Nagisa’s hopes fall as he realises that Rei isn’t likely to join the swim club. Then he remembers that the swim club isn’t his sole reason for tracking Rei down. “Not really. Sure, we need a fourth member so we can enter tournaments and do joint practises, but I wanted to talk to you about something else.”

“What?” Rei says, eyes widening. “I thought you wanted to recruit me because we’ve met before and you assumed that our experience would make me want to join your club.”

Nagisa blinks, then realises that Rei has no idea why Nagisa wants to talk to him. He can’t help but laugh a little, hearing that. “No, no. I wouldn’t use that to make you join.”

“Oh. Then what did you want to talk to me about?” Rei sounds more as though he’s willing to listen to Nagisa, now.

“It’s about that night in the lighthouse,” Nagisa says. “You remember when we pulled that lever and blacked out?”

“Of course.”

“When you woke up, something was different. Right?”

Instinctively, Rei grasps his wrist. “Apart from being in a hospital, you mean?”

Nagisa lifts his wrist, exposing his snowflake mark. “You have one of these, right?”

Rei stiffens, then lifts up his own wrist. The mark on his skin is not a snowflake, but the silhouette of a butterfly. It makes sense, Nagisa realises, that he looked natural doing the pole vault.

“Have you figured it out?” Nagisa says. Hope builds within him that Rei too has figured out the secret.

But Rei only shakes his head. “All I know is that I woke up with this mark. I don’t know why it’s here or why it’s shaped like this.”

Nagisa smiles. “Rei-chan, we have _superpowers_.”

Rei stares at Nagisa. For a good minute, neither of them speak as Rei merely gapes. Then he laughs a little, though it isn’t out of humour.

“You’ve got to be kidding me.”

“I’m not!” Nagisa says. “This thing lets us turn into superheroes, and we have superpowers and costumes and everything!”

“Hazuki-kun, are you sure you didn’t dream this?” Rei says. “There’s no way that’s possible. Logically speaking, superheroes aren’t plausible-”

“I’ll show you.” Nagisa looks at Rei, determination in his eyes. “I’ll show you that I can transform into a superhero, so I’m trusting you not to run off and tell anyone.”

Rei furrows his eyebrows. “I don’t think that will work.”

Ignoring Rei, Nagisa holds his wrist. Closing his eyes, he clears his thoughts and brings up his one truest desire at the moment.

_‘I really want to show Rei what I can do so he understands that I’m not making this up! Please, help me!’_

He hears Rei mutter something under his breath and grips his wrist a little tighter.

_‘Please!’_

A sudden warmth shoots through him and he’s transforming, light surrounding him as he becomes Rockhopper. He’s done this enough by now that he’s used to the sensation, but he can only imagine what Rei is seeing right now. Moments later, he opens his eyes from behind his mask. Rei has stepped back a little, mouth agape in shock.

“See, Rei-chan?” Nagisa says. “I have superpowers. _We_ have superpowers.”

Rei shakes his head. “That can’t be possible.”

Nagisa lifts his arm, where his mark is glowing underneath his sleeve. “But it is. You can do it too, I’m sure of it.”

It takes Rei a moment and a dozen blinks to speak. “I can’t believe this.” He looks down at his own wrist. “How did you even figure this out?”

“It’s a long story,” Nagisa says, but he tells it anyway.

By the end, Rei looks horrified. “You trespassed in an abandoned swimming pool? That’s incredibly dangerous.”

“We kind of got that when that guy threatened us,” Nagisa says. “But that’s how I figured it out.”

“And you’re telling me that I can do the same thing.”

“Yup! I’m not sure if you can do it at will yet, since you’ve never transformed before, but you definitely have superpowers, Rei-chan.”

The more Nagisa talks, the more afraid Rei looks, so Nagisa decides to detransform. When Nagisa is once again in his gym clothes, Rei does look a little more comfortable.

“I get it if it takes you a while to get used to this,” Nagisa says. “But I feel like this has to be fate. We were both in the lighthouse that night, we pulled the lever together, and we’re both boys with girly names.”

“Surely that isn’t important!” Rei says indignantly.

“The main thing,” Nagisa says, ignoring Rei’s embarrassment, “is that you looked beautiful.”

“Huh?!”

“When you did the pole vault.” The image of Rei silhouetted against the blue sky returns to his mind. He looked so comfortable and graceful. “You looked beautiful, Rei-chan!”

Rei blushes a little and pushes up his glasses. “Well, I was just following theory and calculation.”

“But that’s not something everyone can do,” Nagisa says. “I suck at that kind of stuff. You could use it to do a beautiful jump, and that’s really amazing!”

Looking down, Rei clenches his hand into a fist. His eyes shine with recent disappointment, and Nagisa feels his cheerfulness sober up.

“Listen, I saw what happened at your practise last night.”

Rei looks up, eyes wide.

“I wasn’t watching on purpose or anything,” Nagisa says. “But I heard what your coach said to you, and it sounded really mean. You made a mistake, sure, but that doesn’t mean you’re not going to get any better.”

“He was right, though,” Rei says. “I focus so much on the numbers that I am forgetting the physical aspect of the sport. It’s likely that he’ll ask me to leave if I stay like this.”

Nagisa shakes his head. “That’s not fair. You deserve better than that, Rei-chan. If you were in our club, none of us would ever treat you like that. You deserve a chance to improve and learn from your mistakes.”

A second later, Nagisa realises that he sounds like he’s trying to bribe Rei into joining the swim club and he feels bad. That’s exactly what Rei didn’t want him to do, before. He’s about to apologise when Rei speaks.

“You still only have three members, right?”

“Well, technically Kou-chan’s our manager, but we only have only three swimmers.”

Rei hums and begins to run again, and Nagisa freezes for a second before taking off after him.

_‘I wonder what that was all about?’_

 

* * *

 

 

Nagisa reaches the school just as Makoto and Haru reach the gates, so he jogs straight to them.

“What are you doing?” Haru asks.

“Ah, hi Haru-chan, Mako-chan,” he pants. A set of footsteps approach them, and he looks up to see Rei walking towards them. “Ah, Rei-chan.”

He ignores Nagisa and speaks straight to Haru. “You’re Haru-chan-san?”

“Don’t use both -chan and -san,” Haru says, eyes narrowed.

“Is something up?” Nagisa asks, a little worried now. He doesn’t want a fight brewing between two of his friends.

Rei looks over to him, his expression softening a little. “Am I correct in saying that you need a fourth member for your upcoming joint practice?”

Nagisa nods. “Yeah, why?”

“I’m willing to participate in your joint practice as a trial member.”

“What? Really?!” Joy fills his body. Even though Rei was so against the swim club earlier, it’s surprising to hear him change his mind.

“But only on the condition that I will not do any swimming,” Rei says, pushing up his glasses. “You have helped me with something, so I feel that I should return the favour.”

“Thank you so much, Rei-chan!” Nagisa says. “Now we can do the joint practice!”

Makoto smiles at Nagisa and Haru before thanking Rei for his help. Rei waves his thanks off and leaves to get changed before class begins.

Nagisa grins to himself. Everything is slowly beginning to work out for the better.

 

* * *

 

 

A few days later, the four members of Iwatobi Swim Club plus Rei make their way to the Samezuka pool after class. The indoor pool is amazing in the daylight with an arched glass ceiling and a long stretch of water which makes Haru’s eyes shine. Around the pool are several Samezuka students, mostly in swimwear, getting ready to train. Nagisa is jealous of how prolific their swim club is.

“Hey, thanks for coming,” a voice says, and they turn to see a tall student with red hair and gold eyes.

“Thank you very much,” they chorus, all giving bows or nods of respect.

“Sure,” he says, then turns to Haru. “You’re Nanase-kun, right?”

As the captain speaks to Haru, Rin enters the room and speaks quietly to a first year boy. Kou immediately jogs over to him to say hello, and Nagisa follows.

“Rin-chan! We get to swim together again!” Nagisa says, happiness filling him. Maybe Rin is in a better mood now that some time has passed. “Let’s have fun today!”

“Together?” Rin scoffs. “You guys are a waste of my time.”

Rin walks out of the room again, hands in his pockets, and Nagisa can only watch with his hopes falling. There goes any hope of Rin being civil.

“What is his problem?” Rei says.

Makoto’s expression reads clearly that this situation can’t be helped. “There’s some history there.”

The captain calls them over into a group, having finished speaking to Haru.

“I was thinking that you could practice with our first years today. Let’s start with individual time trials.” His eyes travel to Rei and he frowns. “You there. Get in your swimsuit.”

“Uh, I’m not-”

“Sorry!” Nagisa jumps in. “He forgot to bring his swimsuit!” Scratching his head, he wishes he could think of a better lie to tell the unimpressed captain.

“What? Why is he here, then? You can use one of our spare swimsuits, so go get changed.”

“Huh?” Oh no, this is going badly-

“Nitori.”

“Come with me,” the first year from before says, pointing towards the changing rooms.

“No, I’m not-”

“Hurry up!” Nitori grabs Rei’s arm and drags him towards the changing rooms, ignoring his complaints.

Nagisa immediately feels bad. The one condition Rei had, and Nagisa’s broken it. He doesn’t see how it will affect his swimming, but he still feels bad that Rei has to swim when he didn’t want to.

Though his bad feeling is replaced a little when Rei returns a few minutes later wearing only a standard speedo. In this attire, most of his body is on show, and Nagisa can’t help but admire his firm stomach and chest muscles, not to mention his _legs_. Most of his muscle seems to be on the top of his body, but it’s still very attractive.

Rei looks less than pleased. “The deal was that I wouldn’t have to swim.”

“Don’t worry, these time trials are just for practice, so it doesn’t matter if you’re slow,” Nagisa says, hoping his words will make Rei feel a little better.

“That’s not the issue!” Rei says.

Nagisa, unable to think of a response, changes the subject. “Oh, it’s Mako-chan’s turn.”

“Are you listening to me?!”

Makoto makes a perfect dive on the whistle and moves into a steady front crawl. Whilst it isn’t his speciality stroke, he still swims it well. It is a little like he’s fighting against the water, though.

“I’m up next,” Nagisa says, leaving Rei with Haru and hopping onto the starting block. He pulls his cap over his hair and makes sure his goggles are on properly before crouching into the starting position. The water wavers below him from the movement of the swimmers in it.

Makoto reaches the end of the lane and moves to the side, giving Nagisa a chance to dive before he gets out.

When Nagisa dives into the water, the speech around him turns into inaudible murmurs, and he is swimming in a pit of sound. The water rushes around him as he pushes through. His front crawl is standard, not his best stroke but certainly not his worst. It doesn’t take long for him to make the turn and swim back to the starting block. Reaching it, he looks up to see Rei above him, pushing his goggles into place. He smiles. At least Rei is giving it a go. He moves out of the way and stays in the last lane to watch Rei swim.

Rei’s form is perfect as he folds into the starting crouch and waits for the whistle. At first, his diving form is also beautiful. That is until he bellyflops into the pool.

He doesn’t come back up.

They wait for a second before Haru dives into the water, swimming towards where Rei’s shape is. Nagisa follows to help him lift Rei from the pool floor, coughing and sputtering. Rei keeps his arms around their shoulders as they help him to the ladder, where he lifts himself out of the pool and sits by the wall, a towel on his head and his glasses firmly on his face once more. His head stays hanging low the entire time.

By this point, even Nagisa has figured out why Rei didn’t want to swim, and he feels terrible for making him. “So Rei-chan, you can’t swim?”

“Yeah,” Rei says quietly, then looks up in anger. “Are you saying it’s my fault? I told you I wasn’t going to swim!”

“You should have said something earlier,” Nagisa says, although he does wonder why Rei volunteered to help out if he can’t swim.

“I wasn’t going to admit I couldn’t swim. That would go against my sense of beauty.” He clenches his fists, keeping his head down.

“Rei-chan…”

“I’ll clear things up with Samezuka,” Makoto says. “Sorry for forcing you into this situation.”

“I just wanted to return your favour,” Rei says miserably.

“You could have done it some other way,” Nagisa says, though he isn’t trying to put the blame onto Rei. He just doesn’t understand why Rei would offer to help with the swim club if he can’t swim.

“Oh, it’s Haru’s turn to swim,” Makoto says, changing the subject.

The group look towards Haru as he stands on the starting block, fixing his goggles before taking the start position. Even Rei looks a little interested, even more so when Haru actually dives. He even stands up, joining Makoto and Nagisa where they stand, though his gaze is fixed on Haru’s elegant form.

Nagisa smiles gently. “Haru-chan’s swimming is beautiful, isn’t it?”

Rei looks at him for a moment before turning back to Haru, his mouth open in astonishment. At that point, Nagisa knows Rei is enchanted. He can’t blame him - Nagisa has been enchanted with Haru’s swimming for at least five years. It is seriously beautiful.

For the rest of the session, Rei sits at the side watching the rest of them swim. When he isn’t swimming, Nagisa keeps him company, explaining some of the swimming they’re doing and why they do certain practises. He doesn’t expect Rei to be interested, but he listens to every word he says and watches the swimmers intently. Nagisa can almost see him taking mental notes. Even if Rei decides to take up casual swimming after this, Nagisa’s sure he’ll be happy. For the first time, Rei looks inspired by swimming. It’s refreshing.

 

* * *

 

A couple of days later, Nagisa goes with the swim club to watch Rei’s track practice. It isn’t in an attempt to cajole Rei into joining them, but rather into becoming friends with them all. It’s also a chance to see if Rei has improved with his pole vault.

When they get there, it looks as though Rei is feeling better after the disastrous joint practice. He responds enthusiastically to the coach’s call for him to perform his vault and steps up to the running lane in equal enthusiasm. Rather than mumbling under his breath, all Rei does before he begins to run today is to take a deep breath before launching off. The jump goes as it has for the past two times until he lets go of the pole in the air. Instead of taking the usual curved form, Rei spreads his arms and legs out in the air, spread-eagled across the blue sky. It looks as though he’s actually trying to become a butterfly.

Shock fills everyone watching as Rei falls with a crash, the pole landing on top of him once more. Nagisa has a flashback to the last time he saw Rei fall like this, but this time Rei doesn’t look bothered by the shocked and disappointed face of his coach. Picking up his glasses, he walks instead over to their group, straight towards Haru.

“I want to be like you, Nanase-senpai,” Rei says.

“What do you mean?” Kou asks, voicing all of their confusion.

“I want that kind of freedom.”

“It’s not freedom,” Haru says. “It’s freestyle.”

Nagisa doesn’t see the difference, although there obviously is one.

“Freestyle,” Rei repeats, not looking at all enlightened. He pushes up his glasses. “Anyway, I would like to formally join the swim club.” He bows deeply.

“What? Really?!” Elation fills Nagisa. Even after not wanting Nagisa to ask him to join the club, and even after the disastrous joint practice, Rei still wants to join the club.

“If you want to swim, go ahead,” Haru says, looking away.

“That settles it, then,” Makoto says.

Nagisa looks over to Haru, happiness filling him. “Haru-chan…”

“However.” Rei speaks directly to Nagisa now, straightening from his bow. “I also owe it to you for showing me that I could find something better in a different club, with different people.”

Nagisa’s eyes widen. Did he really show Rei that much? He was only trying to inspire Rei to improve himself. Not that he’s complaining, of course.

“You also showed me a sight that I’ll never forget, and persuaded me to help you out. I expect you to take responsibility...Nagisa-kun.” With his last words, he looks away with a small blush on his face.

The elation grows in Nagisa until he feels like it’s a giant balloon. Not only is Rei joining their club, but he’s also joining their friend group and calling Nagisa by his fist name. It’s as though all of his birthdays have rolled into one day.

“Rei-chan, you can count on me!” he says, jumping up to put an arm around Rei’s shoulders. Even as Rei complains, Nagisa laughs in joy. It feels like things are just starting now. This is the beginning of their superhero story, for sure.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Swimsuit shenanigans and plans for secret meetings ensue.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter, Nagisa’s sister shows up. We aren’t told much about her in the show, but there are a few things on [the wiki](http://free-anime.wikia.com/wiki/Nanako_Hazuki) which Utsumi (Free!'s director) has said she might be like, so I’m going by that personality.

It takes a few days before Rei can officially join the swim club. First he needs to hand in his resignation to the track team, whose coach looks disappointed that he’s giving up. Then his application for the swim club needs to be given to Amakata to be processed. Between Amakata getting the form and Rei joining the club, there is also a weekend, which means it will only be at the start of the next week when Rei can join the club.

Nagisa sees this as an opportunity. On Sunday night, he hunts through every drawer in his room, pulling out as many swimsuits as he can find. He ends up with six of varying colours that he isn’t already using. Stuffing them in a bag, he then rushes to the entrance of the house.

“Where are you going?” a voice asks suddenly.

Nagisa almost loses his balance from his standing pose of putting on his shoe. He pushes it onto his foot and stands up straight to see his sister Nanako standing before him, arms crossed over her chest.

“N-nowhere!”

“You can’t pretend you’re not doing something, Nagisa,” Nanako says. “You’ve been going out late at night a lot recently. Have you got a girlfriend or something?”

“It’s not like that,” Nagisa says. “I’m just going over to Rei-chan’s house.”

“That’s not where you were going before now though, right? You only just became friends recently, didn’t you?” Nanako’s blue eyes bore into his pink ones, a staring contest Nagisa cannot win. They’ve been playing this game for years, and he’s still losing.

“No,” Nagisa says, looking away.

Nanako sighs. “I won’t tell mum and dad. You go see your friend, just make sure next time you don’t get caught.”

Nagisa looks up at his sister and sees the genuine look in her eyes. Even though his sisters can be horrible at times, recently she’s been more civil to him. Then again, Nanako’s always been the most civil of the three of them. He guesses since the others left for university, she’s calmed down. “Thanks, nee-chan.”

“Just go.” She waves him off and heads back into the house.

Taking his chance, Nagisa jams his other shoe on his foot and escapes into the cool night air. He walks quickly, not looking back at his home and making sure he’s out of sight before he stops and breathes a sigh of relief. For a moment, he’d thought Nanako was going to demand he tell her what he’s been doing recently. Nagisa doesn’t know how long he’d be able to last before spilling the beans. Luckily, she was actually nice for once, so Nagisa doesn’t have to worry about that.

It doesn’t take him long to reach Rei’s apartment, since he lives nearby. He’s already pressing the doorbell when he realises how intrusive it might be for him to show up at Rei’s house without warning. He hopes he isn’t pushing his luck too much.

Rei answers the door a moment later. He’s wearing the most casual clothes Nagisa has seen him in yet, a polo shirt and some shorts. They suit him. It does feel weirdly intimate, though, not being in their school uniforms.

“Rei-chan, hi there.”

“Nagisa-kun?” Rei says, though he steps aside to let Nagisa in.

After he’s taken off his shoes, Rei guides him through into his bedroom, a clean room filled with bookshelves and old trophies. Nagisa stands beside a clear glass table, clutching his bag. This room is impeccable. It isn’t surprising, of course - Rei is just the type of person to have a spotless bedroom.

“What are you doing here this late?” Rei asks, standing across from Nagisa.

Nagisa laughs. “I figured you’d have run into a little trouble.”

“Huh?”

“Rei-chan, you don’t have a swimsuit, right?” He holds up his bag with the swimwear inside. “So I brought over some of mine. If you like one, you can use it!”

“Nagisa-kun…” Rei’s eyes are wide in astonishment. He almost looks as though he’s never had a friend do a favour for him before. “But why?”

“Well, I have to take responsibility, don’t I?” He reaches forward and clasps Rei’s hands. “Let’s get started!”

They kneel before Rei’s bed and Nagisa lays out the six swim shorts.

“What’cha think?” he says once he’s done, looking over to Rei. “Aren’t they cute?”

Rei’s eyes are trained on the swim shorts, hidden behind a sheen on his glasses. He can’t make out his expression.

He looks back to the swim shorts and tries to think which pair will suit Rei the most. “Hm, let’s see… I think this one would look good on you.” He points to a skimpy white swim short which looks almost like the bottom half of a bikini. Nagisa can’t recall where he got this pair of swim shorts, but he guesses his sisters had something to do with it. Still, Rei would suit it.

“I-is that so?” Rei says, looking away with a nervous smile. “But I’m not really that into white.”

“Then how about this?” Nagisa points to a pair of shorts with a flashy orange and blue pattern on them.

“That might be a bit too fashionable for me.”

Nagisa looks over to Rei, who seems uncertain. His eyebrows are drawn low, and he’s eyeing the swimsuits with caution. He guesses Rei is thinking about how each swimsuit would work for him using some mathematical formula or logic, so he smiles. “Take your time in making a decision, Rei-chan. You can use those theories of yours.”

“Actually, I haven’t yet memorised any theories about swimwear.”

“Oh, you haven’t?” Nagisa frowns lightly. If Rei doesn’t have any knowledge about the perfect swimsuit, then the next best option would be to ask someone who does. An idea pops into his head and he pulls his phone out of his pocket, scrolling through the contact list. “In that case, let’s ask an expert!”

The two of them wait in silence as the phone rings. It doesn’t take long for the recipient to pick up.

“Hello?”

“Ah, Mako-chan? It’s me, Nagisa. Is Haru-chan with you?” He scoots closer to Rei so he can hear the other end of the call. Rei moves his head closer in response.

“Yeah. Here he is.” There’s a sound as Makoto moves the phone. “Haru, it’s Nagisa.”

A moment later, Haru’s voice comes through the phone. “What is it, Nagisa?”

“Haru-chan, I was gonna let Rei-chan borrow one of my swimsuits, but we don’t know which one he should use. Do you have any advice you can give him?” He hands the phone to Rei. “Here, Rei-chan.”

Rei fumbles with the phone for a second before putting it to his ear. “Good evening, Haruka-senpai.” He hesitates a little on the name. Since Rei joined the swim club, they’ve all asked him to call them by their first names, since it’s more inclusive if they do. Rei is still trying to get used to it.

“Rei, the best suit is the one that clings to you.”

“No, you’re the only one who likes that,” Makoto says in the background of the call. Nagisa can picture his long-suffering face and can't help but laugh.

“Then you talk to him.” Haru must have taken the phone away from his mouth, as the volume is much quieter than before.

“Me?” The phone is moved a little before Makoto speaks again, this time much closer. “Hello, Rei? You should pick whichever one you like best. And, uh… I think a short suit would be good for you. Yeah. ‘Cause you have a great body.”

Nagisa grins. Makoto is completely right - Rei does have a great body. Maybe that’s why Nagisa thinks he’ll suit a speedo more than anything else.

Rei’s eyebrows close in a little. “A great body?”

“Yep. Your legs are long and slender. They’re beautiful.”

In his head, Nagisa is nodding along. Everything Makoto is saying is true. Rei does have great legs. His entire body is beautiful, of course. But his legs are great.

“Beautiful…” Rei’s eyes are wide.

Nagisa is beginning to get a little worried by Rei’s reaction, especially when he begins to laugh manically. It’s like nothing Nagisa has heard from him before. He laughs for a few seconds before thanking Makoto and putting the phone down. He then gives the phone to Nagisa and looks at the swimsuits.

“Now I must figure out which swimsuit will be optimal…”

“Well, I’ll be off then,” Nagisa says, standing. His job for the night is done, and he doesn’t want to overstay his welcome.

But Rei looks up, surprised. “You’re leaving so soon?”

Nagisa blinks and sits back down. “You just sounded like you wanted to get busy, so I didn’t want to intrude.”

“You wouldn’t be intruding.” Rei shakes his head. “Besides, I actually wanted to ask you something.”

“What is it?”

“About this,” he says, pointing to the mark on his wrist. “I think we need to make a plan of action. You’ve known about this for longer than I have, so I’d like to be brought up to scratch with whatever information you have. Then I think we need to figure out what we’re going to do next.”

“That makes sense.” There is a lot that he needs to tell Rei about their powers, and he guesses it’s important to think about what they’re going to do with them in the future. “We could meet up sometime and I can show you most of the stuff.”

Rei nods. “That sounds good. When is best for you?”

“Any time, preferably at night,” Nagisa says. “After 9PM is best.”

“That’s a little late.”

“It’s the best time to stay concealed.”

“Then how about tomorrow night?”

Unless his teachers give him loads of homework, he doesn’t have anything else to do. “That sounds great. I’ll meet you here, then?”

“Okay.”

As Nagisa gathers his things, he remembers one last thing to tell Rei. “By the way, Mako-chan and Haru-chan know about my powers, since they were with me that night. They also know you have them. They’re the only ones.”

“Is the swim club a secret society for people with superpowers now?” Rei asks jokingly.

Nagisa laughs. “It could be, if Kou-chan finds out. Anyway, I’d better go.”

Rei escorts him to the front door, standing close by as Nagisa puts his shoes on and steps out the door.

“Thank you again for your help,” Rei says. “I appreciate it.”

“It’s fine! It’s my responsibility,” Nagisa says with a wink. “Have a good night’s sleep.”

“You too.” Rei smiles at him, his face softening. “Good night, Nagisa-kun.”

Nagisa feels his own face relax into a sleepy smile. Just looking at Rei makes him feel as though things will be alright, because Rei probably has a solution. “Night, Rei-chan.”

As Nagisa walks away into the cold air, his heart keeps his body warm. This has to be the start of a fated friendship and a super partnership, for sure.

 

* * *

 

 

The next day, Rei steps out of his clothes and into the yellow speedo, patterned with a penguin and some colourful flame-like shapes. The speedo is obviously small on Rei, revealing more skin than it is meant to. Nagisa feels blood rush to his face and tries to calm it a little.

“So, you chose this one?” Makoto says, an eyebrow raised.

“It must be tight,” Haru says.

“Incorrect!” Rei says.

Nagisa refuses to believe that Rei thinks the speedo fits him perfectly. It’s definitely at least one size too small.

“I calculated which would be optimal for beautifully displaying my legs. It shows just the right amount of skin, and from this angle, you can see the colour contrasts!” Rei poses in his speedo to show off the contrast. The only contrast Nagisa sees is the one between the usually stoic Rei and the one who thinks that speedo is the best fit for him. “Don’t you think it’s perfect?!”

Something about Rei’s excitement is endearing, though, even as he does the same manic laugh as last night. Perhaps it’s the fact that he’s so excited about wearing a ‘perfect’ swimsuit. Maybe it’s just because Rei used to hate swimming. It’s something Nagisa doesn’t know if he’ll ever figure out.

“The penguin design is beautiful?” Nagisa says.

“No!” Rei says, throwing Nagisa off completely. “Okay? Look at this angle carefully. It cannot be too tight or too loose. If it is, it will…” Rei goes off into a tangent about the speedo, speaking about the theories he must have researched the night before, after Nagisa left.

Nagisa listens in silence. He’s kind of amazed that Rei knows this much about the theories of the perfect swimsuit. It must have been a lot of work for him to do all that research.

They’re saved from Rei’s spiel when Kou enters, training regimen in hand. “Okay boys, let’s get started!”

Together they troop outside to the poolside. Kou stands in front of the starting blocks and holds out the sheet in her hand.

“We officially have four club members now, and it’s warming up outside, so we will finally begin training in the pool today.”

Before Kou has even finished speaking, Haru runs towards the pool and dives straight into it, too fast for any of them to stop him. Even as Kou tries to get him to listen to her first, Nagisa can’t help but watch with a smile on his face. Seeing Haru this excited to get into the pool makes him happy, too.

Behind him, Rei takes the sheet of paper from Kou and listens to Makoto explain what the abbreviations on it mean.

“So ‘free’ must refer to front crawl, then?” Rei says.

“No, ‘free’ means freestyle,” Makoto says. “You’re allowed to use any stroke. But the front crawl is generally the fastest stroke, so that’s what most swimmers use.”

Nagisa reaches forward and plucks the regimen from Rei’s hand. “There are a few swimmers who go with the butterfly.”

“The butterfly stroke?” Rei says. Nagisa’s eyes flick momentarily to Rei’s wrist and the butterfly mark. After a moment, he meets Rei’s eyes once more, unsure why he was drawn to the mark for a moment.

“Yep.”

Nagisa remembers when he first met Rin. He saw him practising laps of the butterfly stroke in the pool and asked him to look over his own. Although the butterfly is still Nagisa’s weakest stroke, he is still grateful for how much time Rin took to help him with it.

He turns the regimen around to look at it. “Anyway, this is a solid training regimen. Did you come up with this yourself, Kou-chan?” Turning round, he looks to see Kou sitting on the starting block, looking bored with her hand on her chin.

“I found that when I was cleaning the house. It’s my brother’s old regimen.”

In the distance, Nagisa sees Haru stop swimming for just a second. Then he turns and starts another lap, as though his momentary lapse had never happened.

“That will be useful,” Makoto says. “We can adapt it over time to suit our own training. Good job, Kou.”

Kou smiles. “Thanks. Now let’s get to work, we don’t have all day.”

Nagisa, Makoto and Rei all perform a few stretches before the former two jump into the pool, shivering as the cold hits their bodies. Still, they swim a few warm-up laps as Rei continues to stretch by the poolside.

“Rei-chan, you’re still stretching?” Nagisa says five minutes later. He hauls himself out of the pool, having finished warming up.

“I want to be as safe as possible,” Rei says, barely looking over to him from his bent-over stretching position.

“Are you going to be okay? You can take it slow,” Makoto says, but his concern is lost on Rei.

Rei stands up straight and pushes his glasses up. “There’s no need to worry. I’ve mastered the theory behind swimming in the past few days. I won’t embarrass myself again.”

In his head, Nagisa tells Rei that he’s surely just jinxed himself. Then he shakes the thought away. He needs to have faith in Rei. Since he’s learnt all the theories, swimming should be easier for him now, right?

Switching his glasses for goggles, Rei steps onto the starting block and leans into a textbook starting crouch. Even Haru has stopped at the end of his lane to watch, head halfway below the water. Rei crouches a centimetre more before diving off the starting block. His form is perfect until he bellyflops into the pool and tries to swim, which only makes him sink further down. A second passes and he breaks out of the water, panting for breath.

“I think you need to learn to swim first,” Nagisa says. “Mako-chan and I will help you.”

They join Rei in the pool once he’s regained his composure.

“Let’s start with the turtle float,” Makoto says. It’s one of the floats they were taught as new swimmers when they were kids, so it shouldn’t be difficult for Rei.

“I’ll show you how it’s done.” Nagisa holds his breath and forms a ball with his body, bobbing on the surface of the water.

“You hug your knees to your chest and relax,” Makoto explains for Rei’s benefit.

Rei’s voice sounds disappointed when he speaks. “It’s not beautiful.”

Makoto sighs. “Just give it a try.”

When Rei tries, he floats just fine. But when Makoto tells him to start swimming from that position, he begins to sink with every stroke. He bursts out of the water, frustration marring his face.

“Let’s call it a day for now,” Makoto says. “Tomorrow we can try to teach you the other strokes to see if you have more of a feel for them.”

Rei scowls towards the water, hands balling into fists.

“It’s okay, Rei-chan,” Nagisa says. Rei looks up at him, still frowning. “We’ve still got time. You’ll learn to swim soon, okay?”

After a moment, Rei nods, then paddles over to the ladder to haul himself out of the pool.

Even though there’s nothing he can do, Nagisa can’t help but feel bad that Rei is finding swimming so difficult. Then again, Rei doesn’t seem like the type of person to give up easily. He’ll pull through.

After practice, Rei leaves without much more than a “see you later” and a meaningful look towards Nagisa. He hasn’t forgotten their plans to meet up that evening.

Only he, Makoto and Haru are left after that, with Kou having left earlier.

“How are things going?” Makoto asks. “With Rei?”

Nagisa doesn’t need to ask to know that Makoto’s talking about their powers. “I told Rei-chan last week about our powers, before he agreed to do the joint practice. We haven’t talked that much about it since then, except for a little bit last night.”

“It he okay with it? He doesn’t seem like the type of person who would easily accept something like that.”

“It wasn’t easy to convince him I was telling the truth.” Nagisa laughs, scratching the back of his head. “He listened in the end, though. We’re meeting up tonight to talk some more about it.”

On the other side of Makoto, Haru looks at him. His eyes are questioning, but Nagisa can’t read them. In the end, all Haru says is, “Be careful.”

“I know, I promise!”

 

* * *

 

 

Nagisa doesn’t see Rei on the train home and figures he must have gotten an earlier one or ran instead of riding the train. Not worrying too much, he heads home, new worries filling his head.

“Nagisa,” his mother calls as soon as he walks in. “You’re just in time for dinner.”

He curses in his head. Part of him had hoped he’d be too late to sit with his family for dinner. “Coming.”

The dinner table is quiet except for the clacking of silverware. His mother smiles at him benignly.

“How was school, honey? Are you keeping up with your classes?”

Nagisa nods, shoving another bite of rice into his mouth.

His mother doesn’t look for further information. “I wasn’t sure how well you’d fare at that public school. After all, there were better possibilities closer by. Then again, if you’re doing alright, I suppose it must have been a good choice.”

He hums a response and blocks her words out. Even if she didn’t want him to attend Iwatobi High School, he’s still glad he was able to in the end.

“I hear you’ve made some new friends, too.”

Nagisa blinks, then glares over at his sister, who shrugs as though she doesn’t know where their mother got that information.

“There’s nothing wrong with having friends, Nagisa,” his mother chides. “Just make sure you aren’t loitering with the wrong sort.”

Pushing his almost-empty bowl away, he stands. “Thank you for the meal.”

“Won’t you stay for dessert?” Nagisa’s mother says.

Part of Nagisa wants to stay, but he forces himself to refuse. “I’ve got homework to do.” It’s only a half-lie. Even though he has homework to do, he isn’t planning on doing it tonight.

“Okay, honey. It’s good to see you working hard.”

Nagisa nods. He feels his sister’s eyes on him, knowing. He forces himself to ignore her and leave, rushing upstairs to his room as quickly as possible. When he’s inside, he closes the door and leans against it. More than anything, Nagisa wishes his family weren’t like this. They love him and want the best for him, but sometimes their methods are infuriating.

A glance at the clock shows the time to be 8PM.

_Only one more hour until we meet up._

Nagisa can’t wait.

 


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nagisa and Rei meet up and defeat one problem, but then another comes up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chou is one of the Japanese words for butterfly.
> 
> Thanks for all of the support so far!

There’s something intimate about standing in an alley alone with Rei. A gentle breeze ruffles their hair, but neither of them flinch. Even though the wind chills them, Nagisa feels oddly warm. It’s most likely the warmth from his mark, coursing through his veins. Still, part of him likes to think it’s being in Rei’s presence at this moment.

“How does this work, then?” Rei says, breaking the silence.

“You have to focus your mind,” Nagisa says. He keeps his voice calm and quiet, trying not to let it carry. “Think about the one thing you desire most, and how to get that desire, you’ll need to transform.”

Rei blinks his eyes closed. They flinch, though whether from the breeze or concentration, Nagisa isn’t sure.

“Try to keep calm,” he reminds him.

“This isn’t working,” Rei says, opening his eyes. “I don’t know what I’m supposed to be focusing on.”

Nagisa frowns. “Just pick a thought, like ‘I need to transform to see what this is all about’. Think about that. It’s a little bit like praying.”

“I’m not all that religious,” Rei says, but closes his eyes nonetheless. A moment passes where neither speaks. For a moment, Nagisa thinks Rei is getting somewhere.

Then he opens his eyes again.

“Nagisa-kun, this isn’t working. You’ll need to explain more thoroughly.”

Sighing, Nagisa frowns. “I’ll transform, okay? See if you can figure anything out from this.” Grasping his wrist, he speaks his desire aloud. “Please let me transform so I can help Rei-chan!”

It takes barely a second for the light to engulf him. Then he is Rockhopper, standing in front of a stunned Rei.

“I still can’t get used to that,” Rei says quietly.

Nagisa grins behind Rockhopper’s mask. “Did you figure anything out?”

“Why did you grab your mark?” Rei asks.

“Because it’s the key to the transformation, I think. It always feels really warm when I’m going to transform.”

Rei looks at his own mark, which glows faintly, a cheap glow-in-the-dark sticker compared to Nagisa’s transformed mark. “The key…”

Suddenly, another voice enters the alleyway. “Oi, you.”

Rockhopper looks around to see the man from a month ago, standing at the mouth of the alley. Fear floods him - how long has he been standing there? “I thought I told you to stay away.”

“You never said that,” the man says, approaching them. His gait is wobbly, his eyes hazy. “You told me not to harass anyone. Not to stay away from you.”

Rockhopper steps swiftly in front of Rei, hands closing into fists. “I might as well tell you that now, then. Stay away from here. Don’t you remember what happened last time?”

He feels Rei’s eyes on his back and knows he’ll have a lot to answer for later.

“’Course I remember. How could I?” The man grins. “Spent a while in hospital after that. A good few hours. Bet the nurses know my name now.”

“I hope you didn’t harass them, too,” Rockhopper says, gritting his teeth. This isn’t going to be an easy fight, especially if he’s trying to protect Rei.

The man steps forward and he steps back.

“You can’t get away,” a voice behind them says.

Looking behind him, he sees the man’s cronies are at the other end of the alley, grins as wide as their leader’s. Rei stiffens and steps towards the wall.

If Rockhopper knew this was going to happen, he would never have invited Rei out here. How did these men even find him, anyway?

“You’re going down this time, short-ass.”

Rockhopper stands in front of Rei and lets the men approach him. His hand hovers over his wrist. Behind him, he whispers, “If you can find a way out, go. I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“I can’t just leave you here,” Rei hisses back, but his eyes are screaming in terror.

“Trust me, I’ll be okay.”

When the men are close enough, Rockhopper makes his move. Pressing his fingers down on his mark, he summons his snowflake weapon. None of the men notice it, despite its size.

“There’s no way out, brat,” the leader says.

Rockhopper grins. “I warned you last time.” Instead of letting them figure out what he means, he kicks out at the leader’s crotch, then flings his weapon at one of the cronies, hitting him square on the forehead. With those two down for a moment, he focuses on the third. The third throws a punch at him, which Rockhopper dodges before grabbing the man’s arm and twisting it round. He catches his weapon in his free hand - a boomerang, as well as a shuriken.

“Run!” he yells to Rei.

Rei hesitates for a second before running to the open end of the alley, out of the grasp of the gang men. Rockhopper allows himself to smile for a second. At least Rei will be safe. Besides, Rei has the common sense to go to the police for help. All Rockhopper needs to do is stall them until help arrives.

“Why you little brat!” The leader snarls at him. He throws a punch, which Rockhopper dodges, but just barely.

Another of the men throws a punch, and this time he isn’t so lucky. Cornered, the men continue throwing punches. Rockhopper can’t move, pinned by the force of their punches and their arms pressing him against the wall. He closes his eyes, letting the punches come. There’s no way he can overpower them right now, not with all three fighting. Even if he’s good at one-on-one combat, being cornered like this definitely puts him at a disadvantage.

In the corner of his vision, he sees a blinding light, and the punches falter for a second. Rockhopper chances a glance. Just as he opens his eyes, one of the cronies goes flying through the alley.

“What the hell?!” the other crony says just before he is also struck down.

The leader and Rockhopper turn to face the newcomer at the same time, filled with very different feelings.

In front of them stands a man in a similar bodysuit to Rockhopper’s, though his is a dark shade of purple. His mask covers his eyes, the same colour as his suit, with a lighter shade of purple piercing through the eyeholes. Those eyes and the blue hair above it, a little messier than usual, are all Rockhopper needs to know exactly who this is.

Rei has learnt how to transform.

Unlike Nagisa, he is confident in his first transformation. He stands tall, chin held high.

“Not another weirdo in latex,” the leader says. “What the hell do you want?”

“I want you to stop harassing my partner,” he says. The word partner makes Nagisa’s stomach flip, though his alter-ego knows it is the perfect word to describe their relationship in this form.

“All you two want is me to stop harassing people,” the leader says. “Can’t you mind your own business?”

“Not when it involves my partner,” Rei says.

Behind the leader, his cronies, crawl up against a wall, trying to keep out of sight as they nurse their sore heads. It’s almost amusing how they act tough when in reality they can’t even continue to fight after one blow.

The leader scoffs. “If you want a fight, let’s go, pretty boy.”

Rei shakes his head. “I refuse to fight with you. I want you to leave here and do as my partner told you in the first place. Do not harass anyone again.”

“This isn’t worth it,” one of the cronies says, standing. “C’mon, boss. Let’s just go.”

The leader gives his cronies a withering look, but stands down. “I’ll be looking out for you to. Don’t expect you’ve seen the last of me.” With a final nod, he leaves alongside his bruised cronies.

Once again, Nagisa and Rei are alone in the alley, but this time the atmosphere is much different.

“You did it,” Rockhopper says, looking over to where his partner stands. “You transformed.”

“I think I understand what you were trying to say,” Rei says. “I just knew I had to help you, and that transforming would be the only way.”

Rockhopper decides not to bring up the option he had thought of.

“You need a name, now. For your alter-ego.”

Rei looks at himself, studying his attire and turning round. Now Rockhopper sees his back, he can see two thin strips going down his back, though he isn’t sure what their purpose is.

“What are those strips on your back?”

“Strips?” Rei grasps at his back, taking hold of the strips. He tugs on them and they pull out, revealing a parasol-type garment on his back which resembles a pair of butterfly wings. In the moonlight, their colours glint, beautiful and intriguing.

Rockhopper looks at him in awe. “That’s amazing. You’re like a real butterfly.”

“How about Chou then?” Rei says. “It means butterfly as well as being a name.”

Rockhopper grimaces. “It’s not exactly the best.”

“Well you think of something, then!”

“How about just Butterfly?” Rockhopper says. “I think it suits you.”

Rei - or Butterfly - nods. “Okay. I’ll be Butterfly.”

Rockhopper grins before letting his transformation fall away, leaving him as a crumpled teenager. He falls to his knees.

“Nagisa!” Rei kneels beside Nagisa. “Your wounds - I need to get you to a hospital.”

“You’ll need to detransform, first,” Nagisa says. “Just thank them and think about being finished with your business.”

Rei frowns, not knowing the exact meaning of Nagisa’s words, but closes his eyes regardless. A moment later, he is in his normal clothes once more. “I’ll carry you to the hospital.”

“I’ll be fine,” Nagisa says, but Rei picks him up bridal-style, ignoring his words.

“You need to have these wounds looked at. We can’t let them get any worse.”

Nagisa looks at Rei, feeling vulnerable but protected, and nods. There are worse places he could be right now. Compared to most of them, the hospital isn’t too bad.

As Rei carries him, Nagisa remembers that he will have to go back into his house later on, and it’s unlikely that no one will see him. If he goes home with these injuries, his parents will have a fit. He can’t let that happen. Then again, how else is he supposed to sleep tonight? He needs to stay somewhere. Sneaking through the window is a possibility - but he closed the window earlier.

“What’s wrong, Nagisa-kun?” Rei asks.

Nagisa looks up at Rei. “It’s nothing. I’m just thinking about going home.”

“Your parents will be worried sick,” Rei says.

“That’s the problem.”

Rei pauses for thought. “I suppose you could try to hide it from them. They don’t know, do they?”

Nagisa shakes his head. “I don’t want to tell too many people.”

“That makes sense.”

For a moment, they are silent, and Nagisa feels his eyes drooping closed. That fight took a lot of energy out of him, especially since they were hitting him so much. All he can think of his falling asleep.

“I think you’re the kind of person who will find a way to solve this problem, Nagisa-kun,” Rei says, voice directed outward rather than down at Nagisa. He can imagine the blush on his face, not extensive but still enough to notate his embarrassment.

“Thanks, Rei-chan.”

Nagisa lets his mind switch off and falls asleep in Rei’s arms.

 

* * *

 

 

The next day, the package Nagisa’s been waiting for finally arrives. He tears it open with a grin, already five minutes late in leaving home but not caring because it’s here. Flipping through the pages, he gives the options a glance over before stuffing the book into his bag and rushing out of the house.

Luckily he makes the train, but only by a fraction of a second.

“Why are you so late, Nagisa-kun?” Rei asks, an eyebrow raised. “And are you wearing makeup?”

“Just a little bit of concealer and some foundation,” Nagisa says, waving Rei off. “And I’ll tell you later.”

Rei frowns at him but does not argue.

And Nagisa does show him when they get to class. Somehow they have been in the same class since the first day of term and Nagisa had not even noticed, but now he knows he can take advantage of it. He stands in front of Rei’s desk and puts the book on top of it, facing Rei.

“A tracksuit catalog?”

“Club uniforms!” Nagisa says, feeling proud of himself. “I got this catalog so we can order some club uniforms since we’re an official swim club now.”

Rei nods, putting a hand on his chin. “Yes, I agree. It would add a sense of community to the team, I suppose.”

Nagisa flips the catalog open and the two begin to puruse through them. It doesn’t take long for them to find their favourite design, and even less time for Nagisa to drag Rei to Makoto and Haru’s classroom to tell them about their plans. However, the part which takes the least time is Kou shooting their plans into the dust the minute they enter the clubroom that afternoon.

“Forget about buying matching uniforms for now.” She waves a piece of paper in front of them. It’s covered in scribbles. “And focus on this.”

“Is that a new training regimen?” Makoto asks.

“Yes. I revamped the regimen to account for the fact that Rei-kun can’t swim.” Kou looks over to Rei. “Rei-kun, given how much time we have until the regional tournament, you have to learn how to swim in a week.”

Nagisa raises his eyebrows. Even he thinks that’s a bit of a stretch. Only one week to learn how to swim?

Rei is thinking along the same lines. He laughs and waves a hand. “Within a week? That’s conceptually impossible.”

Kou pounces, anger filling her features. “This isn’t a laughing matter! If you fail, you won’t be able to complete this training regimen!”

“Okay,” Rei says, holding up his hands in surrender.

They go outside and Nagisa and Rei take the lane closest to the edge of the pool, so Rei can grab the wall if he needs to. At the side of the pool, Makoto and Haru sit with their feet in the water, observing. Nagisa’s glad he won’t need to put his face under the water, or his makeup would be washed off. He doesn’t want his friends to need to worry about him.

Nagisa puts his hands on his hips. “I’ll go first. I can teach you frog style.”

“The breaststroke, or ‘breast’, right?” Rei says, pushing his goggles up even though they’re fixed to his eyes by the elastic band.

“You’ve done your homework, Rei-chan.” Nagisa smiles. It’s good to see Rei so confident in himself.

“I’ve learnt all of the concepts. I just need to figure out how to make it work.”

“Then let’s start with your legs.” Nagisa holds his hands out towards Rei.

Rei clasps his hands. For a moment, there is a warmth which makes both of them freeze. It isn’t a natural warmth, but more like a candle being lit. A sudden burst of flame before it becomes calm. It only lasts a second, but Nagisa and Rei stay in their places for a few seconds more. Their eyes travel from their interlocked hands to their eyes, holding the same question within them.

“Don’t be too worried about it, Rei,” Makoto calls from the side, breaking them out of their stupor.

“Y-yes!” Rei says. He lowers himself into the water, onto his chest. At first he wobbles a little, but then he begins to kick his legs in the textbook breaststroke style, like a frog kicking through the water.

“Amazing, Rei-chan! Your form is perfect.” Nagisa feels hope rise within him. At this rate, Rei might actually learn how to swim breaststroke today.

“Of course it is,” Rei says, eyes closed as he continues to swim.

“I’m going to let go, then,” Nagisa says, letting go of Rei’s hands once he gives the go-ahead.

Rei begins to move his arms in the proper stroke, and Nagisa’s hope flares, but quickly dies when he sees that Rei isn’t swimming, but sinking. Rei bursts out of the water, face distressed.

They try one more time before calling it quits and allowing the swimming members of the club to practice whilst Rei does kick practice beside a wall. Nagisa volunteers to look after him, mostly so he doesn’t have to put his face under the water. As he watches Rei, he notices that Rei’s form and theory is perfect. There’s just something else which Rei doesn’t have, and Nagisa doesn’t know what that could be.

 

* * *

 

 

“Nagisa?”

He turns to face Makoto in the changing rooms. It’s the end of practice, and they’re all putting their clothes back on, exhausted from working so hard.

“What’s up?”

“What’s that on your face?” Makoto says, frowning. “That red thing.”

Nagisa raises a hand to his face, where some of the bruising is. There isn’t too much, considering how badly those guys beat him up, but it is still enough to make people worry. “Here?”

“Yeah,” Makoto says. “It’s still there - did you get something on your face earlier? Is it pen?”

“No,” Nagisa says absently, looking at his foundation-stained fingers. “I’ll be back in a second-”

“What happened?” Makoto says. His hand on Nagisa’s arm is a warning, not a constraint.

“What do you mean?” Nagisa shies away from his touch.

Makoto moves his hand to touch Nagisa’s face gently. Nagisa freezes.

At that moment, Rei and Haru walk into the changing rooms, just back from showering. They stop as soon as they see their friends. The four of them freeze. Makoto’s hand is still on Nagisa’s cheek.

Haru is the one to break the silence. “Makoto.”

Makoto pulls his hand away from Nagisa and looks over to Haru. “Sorry, Haru. I just-” He looks at his hand.

Nagisa looks at the ground.

“Is this makeup?” Makoto says.

Nagisa doesn’t answer the question. He doesn’t need to.

“Why are you wearing makeup?” Haru asks, his voice puzzled. He of all people knows that Nagisa isn’t incredibly comfortable with wearing the kind of things his sisters used to tease him with, makeup included.

He tries to laugh it off, scratching the back of his head. “I just had really bad acne, I needed to hide it. It’ll go away soon enough.”

“Please tell us the truth,” Makoto says. His voice is firm, a tone he doesn’t usually use on Nagisa. “I can tell that isn’t acne on your face.”

Nagisa watches his friends’ faces: Makoto’s concern, Haru’s confusion, Rei’s eyes pointed at the ground. He can’t bring himself to answer. So he does the next best thing. He flees to the bathroom.

Makoto calls after him, but none of them follow him in.

The bathroom is cool and quiet and calm. He leans against the door for a second, breathing deeply, trying to remind himself that his friends are only worried. There’s a darkness inside of him, though, making him think that if he tells them, Makoto and Haru will make him give up his alter-ego. He can’t have that.

Making his way to the mirror, he sees that his makeup is patchy now. Some of his bruising is visible. Water must have gotten onto his face, despite his best efforts. Turning on the tap, he washes the paint away, leaving only the remnants of the night before. A black eye. A bruise on his cheek. Not the worst, but still unsightly.

There’s nothing he can do. He has to tell them, now.

Inhale, exhale. He exits the bathroom.

Makoto audibly gasps when he sees Nagisa’s face. Haru doesn’t gasp, but his face is just as horrified. Rei still keeps his eyes trained on the ground as he gets changed by his locker.

“What on earth happened?” Makoto asks, taking a step towards Nagisa. “Who did this to you?”

Nagisa takes a breath, looks up at his friend and smiles. “I got in a fight. That’s all.”

“We told you to be careful,” Makoto says, raking a hand through his hair. “So many times! How did you get in a fight?”

“That guy I stopped from harassing a girl a month ago found me again. He has a grudge against me, so he wanted to get revenge.” Nagisa lets his smile fall. There’s nothing funny about the situation, so there’s no point in pretending there is. “Don’t worry, though. I had some expert help.” His eyes flick over to Rei, who still won’t meet his eyes.

Makoto shakes his head. “Nagisa, if this is going to happen often-”

“It won’t! I swear I don’t want to get into any more fights. I won’t get hurt like this again, so please don’t stop me from transforming!” Not when I’ve just united with my partner, he adds in his head.

“We’re not stopping you,” Haru says. “We just want you to be safe.”

“Who says you’ll get help next time, if there is another fight?” Makoto says.

Nagisa clenches his fists and looks directly at Rei, who still won’t meet his eyes. “I can trust my partner to help me in a situation like that.”

Rei finally looks at him for a second. His eyes gleam, mouth open a little in surprise.

Makoto and Haru blink and look at each other. Makoto sighs.

“I guess it can’t be helped, then.”

“Just be more careful, next time.”

Nagisa looks at them, emotion welling in his heart. “Mako-chan, Haru-chan, thank you!”

As Nagisa hugs his older friends, Rei slips out of the changing rooms, making his way home alone. When Nagisa releases his friends and looks for Rei, he frowns.

‘What is wrong with Rei that’s making him act so weirdly?’ Nagisa thinks.

But there’s no time to dwell on the question. He quickly finishes changing and re-applies his makeup, covering the injuries once more. With a final goodbye to his friends, he makes his way to the train station, standing alone at an empty platform for only a minute before the train arrives.

With a moment to think, all he can think of is the spark of warmth from his and Rei’s hands touching during practice. He shivers, wishing that warmth was here now. Then he wonders once more why Rei left so early, and why he looked so forlorn and wouldn’t meet his gaze.

He’ll ask tomorrow, he tells himself. But the bad feeling which he gets with that thought doesn’t leave him, even as the night tumbles on.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things get worse before they get better.

The next day isn’t any better. In fact, it’s worse. Nagisa finds himself alone on the train and Rei refuses to speak to or even look at him in class. At lunch, Rei disappears before Nagisa can ask him to sit with them on the roof at lunch. And besides the drama with Rei, all his classmates keep asking how he got the bruises on his face. If he had the chance, he would put the makeup back on ASAP. But it’s too late now that everyone’s seen his face.

Just when he thinks it can’t get any worse, Kou turns against him. Walking out of the changing rooms, Kou catches sight of his face and gasps.

“What happened to your face?!”

Nagisa touches the bruise on his cheekbone. Taking his hand away, he gives Kou a guilty smile. “Sorry, I fell downstairs yesterday. It was pretty bad.”

Kou’s eyebrows draw together above narrowed eyes. “Nagisa-kun, there’s no point in lying to me.”

“I’m telling the truth, honest!” Nagisa lies, then heads towards the pool. “I’m fine, don’t worry.”

But he can feel Kou glaring at him, and the fact that she ignores him after that point tells him he’s messed up again.

After swimming a few practice laps, Nagisa and Haru sit on the poolside whilst Makoto and Rei take the lane from yesterday. Haru keeps his eyes trained on the water and his feet beneath its surface, a towel around his neck. Nagisa can see why Haru wouldn’t want to look up. The situation before him is the most awkward he’s ever felt. In the lane, Rei doesn’t look into Makoto’s eyes. Behind his goggles it’s hard to tell what he’s looking at, but Makoto’s concerned face speaks for itself. Even as Rei turns his back on Makoto, he doesn’t speak with his usual confidence, but with a mumble. Still, he trusts Makoto to hold his wrists above his head as he floats and kicks through the water without a problem.

Nagisa doesn’t understand how Rei can float so easily but sink when he tries to move whilst floating. As soon as Makoto lets go, Rei sinks to the bottom of the pool, despite his calm and practised backstroke movements. It only makes the hope Nagisa had fall a little more. If this keeps happening, Rei might want to quit the team. They’ve only just become friends, but this situation and Rei’s inability to swim might break them if they can’t find a way around it.

Not that Nagisa gets the chance to speak to Rei about it, since he leaves before everyone else once again that evening.

“Hey, Nagisa,” Makoto asks, buttoning up his school shirt. They’re almost done changing after practice, except for Haru who spent a while longer in the pool after practice ended. “Did you notice anything weird with Rei today?”

He nodded. “Yeah. Ever since yesterday after practice, Rei-chan’s been acting really weird. He won’t talk to me or even look at me.”

“It’s the same thing with me. When I was teaching him backstroke earlier, he wouldn’t meet my eyes. He’s been in a weird mood.”

Haru looks over to them. “It might be because of last night.”

Both Nagisa and Makoto look at Haru in confusion. “Last night?”

But Haru doesn’t elaborate, going back to getting changed in silence.

“In any case,” Makoto says, “if this keeps up then we’re going to have a problem. Rei won’t be able to learn to swim if he has an issue with his teammates.”

Nagisa glances over to Haru, thinking about what he said. Rei hasn’t been having any problems with Haru today. They were talking as usual during practice, though neither of them speak much anyway. And Rei has been acting the same as usual with Kou and Amakata too. If this is to do with something from last night, then it must only involve Nagisa and Makoto.

Still, he can’t think of what it might be.

 

* * *

 

 

It rains throughout the next day.

Since they can’t practice with this weather, they call an emergency meeting at Haru’s house, which is the closest to the school and the station. It's also the least likely place for them to be interrupted.

Nagisa’s words wade through the thick silence, jovial in an attempt to dispel the awkwardness. “Okay, let’s being the ‘Let’s figure out why Rei-chan can’t swim’ meeting. Anybody have any thoughts?”

Rei keeps his eyes trained on the table, frowning. He doesn’t speak.

Haru, surprisingly, is the first to offer up an opinion. “The water doesn’t like him.”

“Poor Rei-chan.”

“That can’t be it,” Makoto says, exasperated.

“Maybe he’s athletically challenged,” Kou says.

“Rei-chan’s really fast and he does well on tests.” Not to mention he used to be on the track team, and Nagisa saw his trophies when he went to Rei’s house to lend him a swimsuit. He’s definitely not athletically challenged.

“So you must be smart,” Makoto says, smiling at Rei.

Rei doesn’t look up, burying into his shoulders with every word.

“Do you like mackerel?” Haru asks.

“DHA,” Kou says, probably wondering if Rei has a deficiency.

“I know!” Nagisa says, mostly offering this answer to lighten the atmosphere. “His head is too heavy!”

“All that studying has enlarged his brain!” Kou agrees.

Suddenly, Rei smacks his hands on the table and stands. “That’s enough! The problem is the way you guys teach! If I had a proper coach, I would be fine!”

Everyone sits in stunned silence as Rei looks down once more, hands clasping into fists. Nagisa starts to feel bad for teasing Rei. Maybe they really aren’t helping him.

“A coach,” Makoto says. “There is a coach we could ask.” He looks over to Haru. “Can you get the phone book, please?”

Fifteen minutes of silence and one pizza delivery later, Nagisa’s old swim coach sits at the head of the table.

“What?” Sasabe says with a raised eyebrow. “You want me to teach a kid who sinks like a rock? Because I used to be a coach?”

“I object,” Rei says. He pushes his glasses up his nose. “I can float, so I do not sink like a rock. A more accurate analogy would be to call me a submarine.”

Ignoring Rei’s analogy, Nagisa turns to Sasabe and takes a bite out of his pizza before speaking. “Hey, Goro-chan, we want you to teach him how to swim.”

“Don’t talk and eat at the same time!” Sasabe stands. “I’m a busy man. Why don’t you guys teach him?”

As Sasabe leaves, they all sigh as a group. There’s no helping it, then. They’ll have to find another solution.

A minute passes before Rei excuses himself to the bathroom, leaving the rest of the group to eat the last of the pizza. After five minutes pass and Rei still hasn’t returned, Nagisa stands.

“I’m going to see if Rei-chan’s okay,” he says.

He doesn’t check the bathroom first, because it’s unlikely that Rei’s been in there for five minutes. Instead, he checks the front hall (Rei’s shoes are missing, but his bag is still beside the shoe rack). He looks outside, but can’t see Rei anywhere, so he heads to the back porch. That’s where he finds Rei, sitting on the dry wood rather than out in the rain. Nagisa hesitates, but takes a seat beside him. Rei doesn’t speak.

“I know you’re mad, Rei-chan,” Nagisa says. “I don’t know why you’re mad, but I can tell you are. Wouldn’t it be better if you tell us why you’re mad?”

Rei tilts his head down, not replying.

Nagisa sighs. “We’re a team, you know.”

That gets Rei to raise his head and look at him.

“Not just the swim club,” he says, “but you and I. We’re partners. We can’t expect to work well if we hide stuff from each other.”

Rei looks down, but doesn’t turn away from Nagisa. “But that’s the problem.”

“Huh?”

“You’ve been hiding something, right, Nagisa-kun?” Rei says, looking up. His eyes are filled with hurt, and guilt hits Nagisa.

“You knew about the bruises, though,” Nagisa says, wondering if Rei disapproves of Nagisa not telling the others right away.

“It’s not about the bruises!”

Nagisa flinches at Rei’s sudden outburst. Then he speaks, quieter this time. “What is it, then? And why does it involve both me and Mako-chan?”

Rei flinches. “Shouldn’t you know? I saw you two, in the changing rooms.”

What? Nagisa furrows his eyebrows. Rei is making it sound as though something happened in the changing rooms, but all that happened was that Makoto found out about the bruises. That’s all.

Seeing Nagisa’s confusion, Rei elaborates. “He was touching your face, and you were half-naked…”

“What?” Nagisa says, aloud this time. “Rei-chan, we were in the middle of getting changed. He saw something on my face and was trying to get rid of it. That’s how he found out about the bruises. What did you think was happening?”

Rei’s eyes widen and he blushes a little, whether in shame or embarrassment Nagisa isn’t sure. He looks down. “Oh.”

It takes a moment for Nagisa to guess what Rei thought happened. For a second, he can't believe it - why should Rei care about a relationship between Nagisa and Makoto? It's not like it would change anything between Nagisa and Rei. Then he can't help but laugh at the idea of it.

“Did you think something was going on between me and Mako-chan?” Nagisa says. “Rei-chan, oh my god. You thought something was going on between me and Mako-chan.”

“It was difficult to tell!” Rei says. “I couldn’t see that much of what was happening. We did walk in in the middle of the conversation.”

“He’s my friend,” Nagisa laughs. “We’ve been friends for years. That’s all. He’s great and good-looking, but not my type.”

Rei’s blush increases and he puts his face in his hands. “I can’t believe this.”

Nagisa’s laughter dies and he puts a comforting hand on Rei’s back. “Don’t worry, Rei-chan. It’s easy to make mistakes like that. Besides, if I get together with someone, you’ll be the first to know.” In any case, the person he's starting to become interested in probably won't feel the same. But now's not the time to be thinking about that.

Rei doesn’t speak another word about the subject, but that’s fine. After that, he talks to everyone and looks at everyone and apologises to Makoto for his odd behaviour. It only takes a few words, but then everything returns to normal, and Nagisa couldn’t be happier.

 

* * *

 

 

With only four days left for Rei to learn how to swim, it’s a relief when he tells them he’s figured out the reason for his failures.

“The reason is my swimsuit! This speedo is to blame!”

Nagisa pouts, looking at the speedo. It’s the one he lent Rei, and it looks great on him. He doesn’t see how it’s done anything wrong. “That’s kinda mean.”

“It’s not mean!” Rei complains. “The problem is that this speedo is not streamlined for my body, I think. I haven’t crunched the numbers yet.”

As Rei laughs in accomplishment of his discovery, Nagisa can’t help but smile. Even though he’s weird and likes sticking to form, he really is endearing.

“I don’t see why he can’t buy a new swimsuit,” Makoto says. “Why don’t we all go tomorrow to shop for one?”

 

* * *

 

 

The next day, as promised, finds them in the swimwear section of the city’s sports shop. The team members split up to look in different sections, Nagisa sticking with Rei to give him some help.

“Fluid mechanics would tell you that Reynolds numbers and boundary layer theory are the key points,” Rei says, picking a pair of legskins from the rack, “but I believe that the colour also plays a psychological role.”

Nagisa has no idea what Rei’s talking about, but humours him by listening anyway.

“I’ll also need prescription goggles.” Rei puts the legskins back and picks up some nearby goggles. A sticker on the front reads what the prescription for those goggles is. “Blurry vision may be another reason for my difficulties.”

Sneaking up behind Rei, Nagisa carefully plucks the glasses from his face. “You can’t see without your glasses?”

Feeling mischievous, Nagisa ignores Rei’s protests and puts the glasses on as Rei would, lowering his voice for an impression.

“I haven’t learnt any of the concepts!”

Nagisa dodges away from Rei, laughing. The prescription is pretty strong on the glasses, but he still ignores Rei’s warning of hurting his eyes. After a minute, he stops and takes the glasses off.

“Can I have them back, please?” Rei says.

“Hold on,” Nagisa says. “How come when you transformed, you weren’t wearing glasses?”

Rei blinks. “I wasn’t?”

Nagisa shakes his head. “Just a mask.”

“I could see perfectly, though,” Rei says, taking his glasses and putting them back on. “I wonder how that is.”

“We can figure it out tonight, if you want,” Nagisa says, smiling. “It’s been a while since our last adventure.”

“You’re forgetting that you were seriously injured on our ‘last adventure’,” Rei says. “What if they find us again?”

“We’ll just go to a different area,” Nagisa says, shrugging. “They can’t find us if we’re nowhere near them.”

Rei doesn’t look impressed, but he agrees to go in any case.

They spend around an hour trying on different swimsuits, including several terrible choices for Rei (where _did_ he find that butterfly-printed legskin, and is he seriously buying that?!) and a new purchase for Nagisa, who hadn’t expected to buy a new swimsuit, but fell in love at first sight with his new one. For a while, Haru disappears, and Kou not long after, but they find Kou outside (probably wanting to get some air, it’s pretty stuffy in the shop). Haru returns a few minutes later (completely dry, thank goodness). Pockets much lighter, they leave for home, hope restored that maybe Rei will be able to swim now he is comfortable and can see.

 

* * *

 

 

This time, Nagisa and Rei take a late train to a different area of the town after meeting up. It’s past midnight, so there are very few people on the street. Still, that makes it all the more easy to transform in a dark alley without the worry of anyone noticing. Nagisa transforms first, and after some effort, Rei follows. Standing as their alter-egos, Nagisa feels a strength run through him. It feels like anything could come at them, and they would be able to stop it together.

Rei closes one of his eyes and touches the lid through the eye of the mask he’s wearing. “There isn’t a lens on the mask. I don’t believe I’m wearing contacts, either.”

Nagisa gasps. “Maybe that’s one of your superpowers, Rei-chan! You can see really well, like butterflies can!”

“Butterflies have average eyesight, Nagisa-kun…” Rei says. “The only difference is that their eyesight shifts towards ultraviolet light, so they see quite differently from we humans. My eyesight at the moment is normal for a human being.”

“Details, details.” Nagisa waves him off, heading for the bins at the end of the alley. “C’mon, let’s go exploring!”

Rei calls his name in complaint but follows anyway, probably wondering what Nagisa is planning on doing.

Nagisa squares himself opposite the wall of the building he wants to climb. Luckily the building they’re next to is only one storey high, a small convenience store with a flat roof. It won’t be difficult to find a way to the top.

“Are you planning on climbing up?!” Rei asks. “Nagisa-kun, you’ll fall!”

“I won’t!” Luckily the alley is wide, so he’s able to take a running jump at the wall. He kicks the wall to push himself up and grabs the roof of the store.

“Nagisa-kun!”

This part is easier. With all the practice he’s had of getting out of the pool, he has the upper body strength to push himself up and over, onto the roof of the building. He stands up and looks down into the alley, at Rei. Rei’s eyes are filled with panic.

“Call me Rockhopper,” Nagisa - no, Rockhopper - says. In this moment, he feels more like Rockhopper than he ever has before. He smiles and kneels at the side of the building, offering an arm down the wall. “Grab on, Butterfly-chan.”

Rei - Butterfly - frowns, then hauls himself onto a bin. With his height, it doesn’t take much effort for him to grab Rockhopper's hand. Rockhopper pulls him up onto the roof, which takes a little more effort, though Butterfly does help by grabbing onto the roof as soon as he can reach it. A minute later, the two stand on the roof, looking down on the street below.

“This isn’t high enough yet,” Rockhopper says. “We need to get higher up.”

“What for?” Butterfly says, but his partner is already running to the edge of the building. The next building along is the same height, so it doesn’t take much for him to leap over the alley below and land on the next roof.

“Warn me before you do something like that!” Butterfly yells.

“Come on over!” Rockhopper calls back.

Butterfly shakes his head violently. “I can’t jump that far.”

“Use your wings, then! You can fly, dummy.”

Blinking, Butterfly touches his back, remembering his parasol-like wings. He grasps the handles and pulls them up, revealing once again their full expanse. Rockhopper can’t help but stare at them. They’re beautiful. The antenna-like ends of the wings which pop over his head also make a nice touch. He makes a mental note to show Butterfly them in a mirror or a window later on.

“I don’t know about this,” Butterfly says. “It doesn’t seem safe.”

“I made it over, didn’t I? Besides, you were on the track team. If you could do that, you can make this jump, especially with those wings,” Rockhopper says.

Butterfly gives him a final uneasy look before taking a deep breath and bracing himself. He takes a running start, waiting until his toes are at the edge of the roof to take flight. His jump is higher than Rockhopper's and takes him gliding into the air. He soars right over his head, a dark silhouette against a blue-ish black starstruck sky, hovering above a starstruck boy. Rockhopper's eyes widen in awe as Butterfly flies over his head and lands a few metres behind him.

For a moment, they are both silent. They look at each other, wearing the same amazed expression for different reasons.

“That was…” Butterfly starts.

“Beautiful,” Rockhopper whispers. He then grins and says a little louder, “Amazing! You are amazing, Re- I mean, Butterfly-chan!”

Butterfly's smile is also beautiful, genuine and amazed and proud of its bearer. “I just flew, Nagisa-kun, I _flew_.”

“Rockhopper,” Rockhopper reminds him with a smile, “but yeah, I know! It’s amazing!”

“Thank you so much,” Butterfly says, eyes glistening. “For believing in me.”

Rockhopper feels his heart warm up, full of joy and other emotions he can’t identify but is sure are happy ones. He doesn’t know how to answer Butterfly's thanks, so he changes the subject, still fuzzy from emotion. “Let’s get moving. We'll be there in no time!”

And when, fifteen minutes later, they find themselves on top of the tallest building they could find, it's as though their connection has been forged with iron. Unbreakable, they stand on top of the world together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope the changes in names from normal to superhero weren't too jarring or confusing. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and thank you for all of your support so far!


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rei learns to swim and a training camp is announced.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys. I'm sorry if this fic is super slow at the moment (not the updates, the plot, I mean). I've written a couple of chapters ahead and I've realised that my idea to make this fic happen in the timeline of the first season maybe wasn't such a good idea. In any case, I've started now, so all I can do is continue onwards. I can promise you, though, that the next few chapters should be more interesting and add more mystery. I hope you continue to enjoy the fic from here on out.

A bright blue sky beckons them out to practice the next day, renewed with hope and excitement. In his new gear, Rei hops onto the starting block and checks everything he needs is there. From their place at the poolside, Rei looks like he belongs in that position. It’s just like Haru’s poster suggested.

“He looks like a world-class swimmer from here,” Makoto says.

Nagisa agrees. Even if he isn’t wearing a speedo, he still looks beautiful in his black and blue legskin. Rather than looking like a newbie swimmer, he looks professional now.

“Maybe he’ll actually manage to swim this time,” Nagisa says, leaning forward. With this new image change, Nagisa thinks anything could be possible.

“Yep! I think this might work!” Kou says, hands clenched in hope.

Rei leans over into the starting crouch, knees bent. He leaps off the starting block with a perfect dive, entering the water as any experienced swimmer would. It’s all going perfectly-

Then he sinks.

Breaking out of the breaststroke, Rei gasps for air and tears his swim cap and goggles off. His eyes are wide in frustration. “Why?!”

There’s a splash as Haru dives into the water, swimming towards Rei. He surfaces, shaking his hair dry. “I’ll teach you..”

Rei frowns in confusion.

“You want to learn how to swim, right?”

A second passes before Rei recognises Haru’s words and bows his head respectfully. “Please teach me!”

“However.”

Rei looks up.

“I can only teach you free.”

At this point, Nagisa can only see how cool Haru is, offering to teach Rei in such an aloof form. He’s almost like a karate master, offering his advice to a willing newcomer.

“Yes!” Rei agrees.

Nagisa and Kou gasp in unison.

Eyes wide, Makoto can’t seem to process what’s going on. “Haru’s going to teach someone how to swim?”

“Bringing in the big guns!” Nagisa says, looking over to Makoto with a grin. Makoto mirrors his expression, and they feel hopeful once more.

They watch for a while as Haru explains the basics of swimming freestyle to Rei with the use of a couple of abstract metaphors which none of them understand except for Haru. By the time they’re done, the sun has already began to set.

“That’s all I have to teach you,” Haru says. “The rest is up to you. Believe in yourself.”

Yep, definitely like a karate master.

“Yes!” Rei says, pulling his goggles over his eyes. He leans his feet on the wall behind him and poses to push off. One deep breath. A kick away from the wall. It’s a promising start, and for an innocent second, they think he’ll actually manage to swim. However, then he sinks, and so does their hope.

Bursting out of the water, Rei screams, “Why?!”

“Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nice percent perspiration,” Amakata says from under her parasol, speaking for the first time all practice.

“Isn’t that a quote from Edison?” Makoto says.

“So hard work will always triumph over natural talent,” Kou explains.

Nagisa sighs. “I guess he’ll have to keep working.”

“However,” Amakata says, causing them to look back to her once more. “You can interpret Edison’s quote to mean that hard work means nothing without that flash of inspiration, don’t you think?”

“A rejection of hard work?!”

Nagisa spends a while thinking about that quote and can’t see how it applies to Rei. He doesn’t think Amakata is trying to tell them that Rei’s progress will mean nothing if they don’t find the best way for him to swim. That’s how she makes it sound, though, and he isn’t sure what else to think.

In any case, he gives up thinking about it and swims a few laps before going to the showers. Makoto joins him there a few minutes later.

“Your bruises are healing well,” Makoto says, turning on the shower in front of him.

“Yeah,” Nagisa says. The hot water feels comforting after the cold feeling of being out of the pool in the fresh air. “I’m hoping they’ll be gone soon.”

“Do your parents know about them?”

Nagisa looks down at the ground beneath his feet. It’s dark from the water staining it. “Yeah, they’ve seen them. They think I fell down the stairs at school.”

“Surely they don’t believe that,” Makoto says.

“If they thought I’d been hurt on purpose, they’d make me change schools. I don’t want that, so they need to believe that lie.” Nagisa reaches for the shampoo and rubs some into his hair, enjoying the strawberry scent filling his nostrils.

“Your parents are strict,” Makoto says, reaching for his own shampoo.

Nagisa shrugs, rinsing the bubbles out of his hair. “It’s not like I can just tell them I’m a superhero. They’ll never believe that, and it would put them in danger anyway.”

“I know.”

They spend a couple more minutes showering before Nagisa fetches their towels for them to dry off. They turn to face the pool, waiting for their teammates to return.

“What are Haru-chan and Rei-chan doing?” Nagisa asks, then steps forward to approach them.

“Nagisa.”

He stops and looks back to Makoto.

“Leave them alone for now,” Makoto says with a gentle smile. “I have a feeling they have a lot in common.”

Nagisa looks back to see Haru and Rei sitting side-by-side in front of the fence, watching some butterflies. Their quiet profiles speak volumes about them, and Nagisa can’t help but smile. “You’re right.”

 

* * *

 

 

There’s only one day left for Rei to learn how to swim, and they have no other option.

“Since it’s come to this, let’s have Rei-chan use a kickboard in the tournament,” Nagisa says, pulling a kickboard from their supply room.

“Do the rules allow that?” Kou says, looking disappointed that it’s come to this.

“It’s an option,” Makoto says, walking over to them with a thoughtful expression. “I don’t think the rules prohibit it.”

“We’ll have to look that up,” Nagisa says.

Suddenly, they hear a splash, and another. Looking around, they see a single person in the pool, swimming the butterfly stroke. It wouldn’t be unusual to see someone swimming before they arrive, except that someone is usually Haru, who only swims free. Nagisa frowns.

“Someone’s swimming butterfly,” Kou says.

“Is that Haru-chan?” Nagisa says, not trusting his own instincts.

“But Haru only does free,” Makoto says.

“It’s not me,” Haru says, appearing seemingly out of nowhere behind them.

Jumping, they finally reach their only other conclusion. It can’t be another student outside of the swim club, so it must be-

“Rei-chan?!”

Rei reaches the end of his lap, pulling off his goggles and cap. He’s panting from exertion, which is expected for a stroke like the butterfly, which requires a lot of energy to pull off. Picking up his glasses, he pushes them onto his face.

They run over to the starting blocks, careful not to slip on the wet patches.

“Were you swimming butterfly just now?” Nagisa asks, once again not trusting his own eyes despite having seen Rei swimming.

“It was the only stroke I hadn’t tried yet,” Rei says, looking up at him with sparkling eyes. “Once I tried it, I was able to swim.”

“Eh?!” the three of them cry out. Out of all four strokes, butterfly is the most advanced. It’s Nagisa’s worst stroke. And yet Rei is able to swim it?

“Why?!” Kou screeches.

Rei’s eyes widen and he looks over to Haru, who stands alone by the fence. A butterfly flies around him and lands on his finger, beautiful and fragile in the light. Under his breath, Rei says something they don’t catch.

“Did you say something, Rei-chan?” Nagisa asks.

Rei looks over to him and smiles. “No, I can’t explain it either.”

“Seriously?” Kou says in exasperation, though she’s still smiling.

Makoto laughs a little. “I guess it worked out in the end.”

“Hey, Rei-chan, can you do another lap?”

“Very well!”

Rei takes flight once more, performing his butterfly stroke. Nagisa’s a little jealous of how stable it is, considering it’s his first time swimming it. Then again, Rei is Butterfly. He has the mark of a butterfly on his wrist. In the end, Nagisa should have guessed it beforehand. Rei being able to swim butterfly must be fate.

 

* * *

 

 

The next afternoon, after they’ve changed, they find Kou in the clubroom. For some reason, she’s wearing a hakama and weilding a calligraphy brush like a sword. She kneels before a sheet of paper and writes upon it in black ink.

_“48 days until the prefecturals tournament!”_

Beside that page are piles of previous pages and a pile of fresh blank paper.

“You’re still doing those, Kou-chan?” Nagisa says.

“Can you please stop?” Rei says.

“Pressure is what pushes people to the next level,” Kou says.

“Pressure can also ruin some people,” Haru comments.

Feeling mischievous, Nagisa says, “Are you talking about Rei-chan?”

“I’m not that weak!” Rei protests. Nagisa only laughs.

Makoto smiles, before saying, “But why are you wearing a hakama?”

“Stop talking and start practising!” Kou yells, and the boys run out of the clubroom, or else face Kou’s wrath for slacking off. Nagisa laughs as he runs, feeling elated at how much fun the swim club is. He is so glad they were able to create it, in the end.

“Oh, I’ve got something to show you guys!” Nagisa says, running back into the clubroom for a second. He apologises to Kou, picking up a box from the clubroom. He carries it outside and pulls out the contents. Inside the box are five sets of the new Iwatobi uniform, complete with track trousers, a jacket, and a yellow t-shirt. Nagisa finds the set in his size and tries on the jacket and shirt.

“Ta-da! Our new tracksuits arrived!”

“The jackets are nice,” Rei says, pulling Nagisa’s jacket up to reveal the design on the back of the shirt. “But what is that thing on the t-shirt?”

“It’s the Iwatobi-chan secret version.” It’s a picture of a penguin beside a mascot mask the size and shape of Iwatobi-chan’s head. Both the mask and the penguin look dejected, hidden underneath a track jacket. “Since you were against putting Iwatobi-chan on our tracksuits.”

“What, so there’s a secret version?” Rei raises an eyebrow in an unimpressed fashion.

“Well, let’s get started,” Makoto says, interrupting them. “Before we begin practice, let’s review the events we’ll be entering at prefecturals.”

The three lower-ranked boys stand facing the pool as Makoto stands in front of them, and they quickly decide which events they’ll be entering. Even though they aren’t decided on the relay, Nagisa guesses they can figure it out later.

Makoto sounds like he’s about to set them free for practice when Kou comes rushing out of the clubroom.

“You won’t believe this! I just found something amazing!”

The ‘something amazing’ turns out to be a dramatic poster for an ancient Iwatobi Swim Club training camp. The poster is flashy with crashing waves and an anemone in the front of the picture.

“Iwatobi High School Swim Club Training Camp From Hell on a Deserted Island,” Makoto reads out, sounding unsure.

“Hell?” Rei repeats.

“Deserted island?” Haru says.

Nagisa, on the other hand, is bursting with excitement. “Sounds fun!”

“This took place several decades ago when Iwatobi still had a swim club!” Kou informs them.

“So what’s your point?” Rei sounds sceptical, as though deserted island training camps aren’t fun.

“We should steal their training regimen and hold a summer training camp on a deserted island! To prepare for prefecturals!” Kou points her finger into the air, as though pointing to The Answer.

Haru, unimpressed, retires to the poolside. “Too much effort.”

“This is no time for complaining! Look at the training regimen they used.” Kou flips to another page and shows them a drawing of three islands in the waves. “They swam long distances in the ocean from one deserted island to the next. Don’t you think this training is perfect for building stamina?”

Considering Makoto had been speaking about stamina training a few minutes ago, this opportunity sounds too good to pass up.

“The ocean,” Makoto says quietly.

“Yes, the ocean!” Kou says, grinning. “We should participate in the same training regimen that our storied swim club used!”

“Our swim club was storied?” Nagisa says.

“Yep, look what I found.” Kou shows them another page.

“Sixth place in the Iwatobi Junior Tournament,” Rei reads from the page. Together, Nagisa and Rei have only one comment. “Weak.”

“Anyway! Right now, the Iwatobi Swim Club needs stamina. And summer is the perfect time to hold a training camp! In the ocean, on deserted islands!”

“Wait, I don’t see how deserted islands are relevant here,” Rei says.

“But it’s more exciting when you add deserted islands!” Nagisa says, celebrating with Kou.

“I know right! So let’s hold a training camp!” She and Nagisa turn to Makoto. “Captain, your decision!”

“Huh?” Makoto says, looking between their excited faces. He smiles gently. “I guess it’s a good idea to hold a training camp to prepare for prefecturals.”

“Hurray! It’s settled then!”

Nagisa and Kou celebrate the great idea and the amazing event that will be their Iwatobi Swim Club Training Camp From Hell. Neither of them notice Makoto’s face falling, or Haru’s attentive eyes on his childhood friend, which turn to the water a moment later.

 

* * *

 

 

Of course, as tradition goes, their idea is shot down.

“The club doesn’t have the money for that,” Amakata says.

“Then we could ask our generous adviser to pay for it!” Nagisa says, hoping for the best.

“I’m not that generous.”

In the end, they make a group trip to the convenience store for ice cream to wallow in their pity together.

“But I really wanted to go to a deserted island with everyone,” Nagisa says. “If the school can’t pay for it, we can try to pay for it ourselves.”

“I can’t afford it,” Rei says. “We had to pay for the tracksuits ourselves, and I bought a non-speedo swimsuit.”

“I also bought a swimsuit,” Haru says.

“Same here,” Nagisa says.

“Rei-kun needed a swimsuit,” Kou says, “but the rest of you didn’t need to buy one. Especially not Haruka-senpai - all of your swimsuits look the same.”

“They all fit differently,” Haru says, sounding miffed.

“We could all find part-time jobs,” Nagisa offers.

“It’s too late for that.” Rei pushes up his glasses and sips his milk box.

“I guess this plan’s a bust,” Kou says. “And I heard something weird happened on one of the deserted islands last year, too…”

Way to break Nagisa’s heart. Mysteries only make things more interesting, so getting to explore that would have been amazing. Too bad their plan wouldn’t ever be able to happen.

A moment later, Makoto speaks, a shed of light in the darkness. “Wait. I’ll think of something. There should be a way to hold camp without needing money.”

Nagisa and Kou gasp.

“Mako-chan’s getting serious!” Nagisa says.

“That’s our dependable captain!” Kou says.

Makoto smiles.

If this all works out, then they might be able to have a training camp together. Nagisa’s heart soars.

 

* * *

 

 

In the end, Makoto’s plan turns out to be using his family’s camping equipment to camp on the beach near some deserted islands. They’re lucky Makoto’s house is next door to Haru’s because the camping equipment is heavy. Even once they get it to Haru’s house, it takes ten minutes for them to open the packs properly and to make sure everything they need is inside.

“This is some serious equipment,” Kou says once it’s all laid out.

“Our family always goes camping during the summer,” Makoto says with a smile. That explains why there are five sets of everything - cups, cutlery, plates. It should be enough for the five members of the swim team, though Nagisa isn’t sure what Amakata will use.

Haru turns to him, eyes full of annoyance. “Who gave you permission to use my place as storage?”

“But there’s so much room here,” Nagisa says. Then he turns to the booklet Kou found. “Are these all deserted islands? We could camp on a deserted island!” Just the idea has Nagisa excited. It would be like a survival show on TV.

Suddenly a hand takes the book from him. “That’s a bad idea.”

Nagisa ignores Rei’s protests. “We could have a barbecue on a deserted island!”

“Barbecue!” Kou echoes, punching a fist in the air.

“Can you drop the deserted island business?!” Rei complains, but Nagisa and Kou ignore him in favour of celebrating their amazing idea.

Makoto sighs. “Now we only need money for transportation.”

Nagisa and Kou stop celebrating and lower their heads. They’d forgotten in their joy that not everything has been sorted.

“Do you think Ama-chan has a boat?”

“I seriously doubt it.” Rei looks at him as though the very idea is ridiculous.

“Oh!” Makoto says suddenly, grabbing everyone’s attention. “I know someone with one!”

Half an hour and one pizza later, they’ve secured a return trip from Sasabe to the place where they’ll hold their training camp. They eat in celebration, talking excitedly about their training camp. It’s working, it’s all coming through, they’re going to have a training camp. It’s almost unbelievable that a couple of months ago, the swim club barely existed, and now they’ve scraped the means to go on a training camp. Nagisa can’t help but feel overjoyed.

“This is great!” Nagisa lounges back on the train seat, feeling the bump of his head on the window behind him.

“You’ve said that almost ten times,” Rei says, but he’s smiling. “I do agree that it’s good we have this opportunity. It will help a lot in developing our swimming skills. I personally will spend as much time as possible researching the theories of swimming in the ocean.”

“Don’t spend too long on that, Rei-chan,” Nagisa says. “We’ve got other stuff to worry about too. After all, you haven’t mastered your powers yet.”

Rei pushes his glasses up his nose. “I don’t believe talking about that in such a public place is a good idea, Nagisa-kun.”

“Rei-chan, we’re the only ones in this carriage.”

“That doesn’t matter!”

“Come on, Rei-chan, don’t be like that! Hey, why don’t we meet up again later and do some more exploring?”

“We’ve got homework due tomorrow.”

Nagisa blinks. He had forgotten about that. “I’ve already done it?”

“Nagisa-kun,” Rei says, giving him a disapproving look. “You can’t just spend every night gallivanting and forgetting to do your homework. Your grades will slip and you’ll fall behind in class. You’ll have to do make-up tests.”

He looks away guiltily. “I know.”

“So go home and do your homework,” Rei says. Then his stern face melts into a softer smile. “If you get everything done, I won’t object to meeting up tomorrow night.”

Nagisa looks over to Rei, happiness filling him. “Thanks, Rei-chan! I’ll do my best!”

And for once, when Nagisa gets home, he does his homework.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Their training camp from hell begins in an unexpected destination!

The day of their departure comes quickly, filled with sunshine and calm waters. Nagisa and Rei meet on the train headed for the station nearest to Haruka and Makoto’s houses, which is also closest to the pier where Sasabe is due to meet them.

“Morning, Rei-chan!” Nagisa flops into the seat beside Rei, grinning. His leg bounces restlessly, urging to get up and move.

“Good morning, Nagisa-kun.” Rei puts down the book he was reading, marking it with a plain bookmark. “Did you sleep well?”

“Not at all!” Nagisa grins. “I was too excited to sleep.”

Rei’s face is horror-stricken. “Nagisa-kun, that isn’t good! You need to get an adequate amount of sleep each night-”

“Don’t worry, Rei-chan. I did sleep, and it’s not like I went out and did anything dangerous instead of sleeping.” Actually, he would have gone exploring if not for fear that his sister, prone to staying up late talking to friends or surfing the internet, would catch him.

“Still, considering the amount of exercise you’ll be doing today-”

“It’ll be fine!” Nagisa doesn’t feel at all tired, and his body is full of excited energy. There’s no way he’ll fail in today’s practice.

When they reach the pier, they find that Sasabe’s fishing boat is already docked and tethered, waiting to be used. It isn’t as big as the one in Nagisa’s imagination, which looks more like a modern pirate ship, but it’s still enough to add another ounce of excitement into his body.

“Morning Nagisa, Rei!” Sasabe shouts from the boat. He climbs out onto the pier. “You’re here early.”

“The train we caught was the only one which would get us here in time,” Rei says.

In Nagisa’s opinion, they could have gotten a later train, even if it meant they got to their destination a little later. However, then he thinks about the deserted islands and is glad he got up so early. This gives them more time to explore.

Not five minutes later Kou shows up, yawning but smiling. The four of them talk for a while about their plans for the camp before Makoto and Haruka finally show up, camping equipment in tow. Haru even has a cooler with him.

“Is everyone here?” Sasabe says after they exchange greetings.

“We’re still missing Amakata-sensei,” Rei says.

Just as he speaks, a small car races past them and parks nearby. Out of it climbs their literature teacher, dressed fit for a tropical beach holiday rather than a training camp.

“Sorry to keep you all waiting!” She walks over, holding onto her floppy hat to make sure it doesn’t fall off in the slight breeze. “You must be Sasabe-san. Thank you for your help. Please, take this. It’s just a token, but…” She holds out a small package which looks like a bento.

“Oh, thank you,” Sasabe says, taking the package. Then he looks a little more closely at Amakata. “Have we met before?”

Amakata gasps and looks away, eyes wide. “No, we haven’t! This is the first time I’ve met you.”

“Is he trying to hit on her?” Kou mutters, her eyes narrow.

Nagisa doesn’t think that was Sasabe’s intention, but doesn’t say so. Instead he joins his teammates in boarding Sasabe’s boat, picking a seat near the front.

“Okay, let’s set sail!” Sasabe raises a flag, which reads Big Catch Sasa before standing back to admire his handiwork. “I’ll fly our flag with a prayer for your training camp’s success.”

When the boat starts to move, Nagisa stands at the front of it, feeling like an adventurer leading his friends to victory. “Off we go to the deserted island!” He punches a fist in front of him.

“Full steam ahead!” Kou cheers as Rei grabs the back of Nagisa’s shirt, trying to pull him back into the boat.

“We’re not going to a deserted island!” Rei yells.

“Now, now, don’t be so picky!” Nagisa says with a laugh. He cheers at the front of the boat for a moment before allowing Rei to pull him back towards the front-row seats.

 

* * *

 

 

The beach they’re using for their training camp is gorgeous in the summer sun. The ocean glimmers under its rays, giving it an almost magical air. It feels like the kind of place where treasures are found. It makes the islands in the distance look even more magical and mysterious.

“This place is gorgeous!” Kou says.

“I’m so glad I came!” Amakata says, and once again Nagisa can’t help but think that Amakata is under the impression that she’s on holiday.

Meanwhile, his concerns lie more with Rei, who crouches at the edge of the pier, a handkerchief held to his mouth.

“Are you okay, Rei?” Makoto asks, putting a tentative hand on Rei’s back.

“I’m okay,” Rei tries to say, but then stands up and rushes off. “I need to go to the restroom.”

Nagisa watches him leave with a degree of concern. He hadn’t realised that Rei’s sea-sickness was as bad as that when they were sailing. At least it doesn’t affect him when he swims.

“And here’s a gift from me,” Sasabe says, handing a red cooler to Haruka, who puts it down beside his own blue one.

A few minutes later, Sasabe is back in his boat, wishing them luck and promising to return in a week’s time for the end of their camp. They all thank him and wave him off, but Nagisa’s mind is elsewhere.

“Is Rei-chan okay?” he says quietly, looking over his shoulder.

Amakata points out a 50-metre pool advertised in the nearby facility’s pamphlet, but Makoto immediately shoots down the idea of swimming in it. They don’t have the money for the pool, or else they would have spent it on lodging or travel.

Defeated, Amakata leaves to find a good camping site on the beach.

Makoto joins Nagisa in looking towards the facilities. “Rei will be okay. He's just sea-sick.”

“I know,” Nagisa says, but he can’t help but worry.

A moment later, Rei is running towards them. “Everyone! Come over here.” He stops running and points back towards the facilities.

He leads them to the building with the pool in it, where there are large viewing windows near the roof. They all gaze in, shocked to find the Samezuka team training below.

“Why is Samezuka’s swim team here?” Makoto says.

“Oh, Rin-chan’s here!” Nagisa says, picking out the familiar redhead.

“Did you do something again, Kou-chan?” Makoto says, an eyebrow arching.

Kou looks surprised at the accusation. “I didn’t know anything about it this time. I mean, it’s obvious my brother won’t listen to anything I say. Plus…”

“Plus?” Nagisa says, wondering why she trailed off. But Kou only shakes her head.

“It’s nothing.”

“So it’s just a coincidence.” Nagisa stands. This could be their chance to talk to Rin and sort things out. “We should go say hello, then.”

“Don’t.”

Nagisa is startled by Haruka’s sudden refusal. Considering he hasn’t said a word all conversation, the fact that he spoke at all is surprising.

“Eh? Why?”

“I promised him we would meet at prefecturals.”

“Eh? When did that happen?!” This is the first Nagisa has heard of such a conversation. Did Haruka and Rin meet up at some point without any of them knowing? Even Makoto looks surprised by Haruka’s revelation, and he knows almost everything about Haruka.

Put off by Haruka’s refusal, they troop back down to the beach, where they spend a further ten minutes trying to put up the tents. It’s a task made easier due to Makoto’s expertise in the subject, but it still takes a while, what with there being two to put up.

“I wanna swim in a 50-metre pool,” Nagisa whines as he and Rei finish putting up the second tent.

“I guess powerhouse schools do get special treatment,” Amakata says.

“They’re clearly in a different class,” Rei says.

Haru speaks up. “Doesn’t matter.”

“Haru’s right,” Makoto says. “Our goal for this training camp is to gain stamina.”

“Right! We still have our deserted islands!” Nagisa stands, pumping a fist into the air. He will not be defeated by their fancy pool! They have their mysterious islands!

“Are you comparing 50-metre pools to deserted islands?” Rei says in disbelief.

“Aren’t they similar?”

“How are they similar?!”

“Okay, then,” Amakata says, picking up her bag. “Let’s go check in at the lodge.” She looks over to Kou as she speaks.

“Yes!” Kou replies with an almost smug smile.

“Lodge?” the four swimmers say in unison.

Rei voices all of their thoughts. “What do you mean?”

“We booked lodging for ourselves over there.” Amakata points over to the guest lodging houses, which look classy and well-furnished in comparison to their tiny tents. “You can’t expect a couple of girls to sleep outside. Right Kou-chan?”

“Right?”

“Class difference again,” Rei says to Nagisa.

Nagisa sighs with a realisation. “We’re the bottom one-percent?”

But there’s nothing they can do about their lodging arrangements now. Kou and Amakata leave with smiles on their faces, leaving the boys to finish assembling the tents before changing into their swimwear.

“If you look at the map, you’ll see that there are a number of small islands in the area.”

“Deserted islands!”

“What is it with you and deserted islands?!”

Makoto continues without mentioning Nagisa and Rei’s comments. “We’ll be swimming between Sukishima, Oshima and Mizushima for our training.”

Sukishima. The familiarity of the name hits Nagisa like a tonne of bricks, and he realises that he’s stood on this beach before. He also realises that he’s stood on the island across from them before, almost a year ago. Looking over to Rei, he notices that Rei’s eyes have widened, easier to see without his glasses covering them. Rei glances over to Nagisa. His eyes say it all: _That’s the island from last year._

“What’s wrong?” Haru says, glancing between Nagisa and Rei with an arched brow.

“It’s nothing! I was just wondering if Rei-chan will be okay with this regimen,” Nagisa says, laughing nervously. He’s always been a bad liar, and he can tell Makoto and Haruka don’t fully believe him.

“Rei’s a beginner, so we have a different regimen for him,” Makoto says, putting the map down so he can look Rei in the eyes.

“No, I’ll do what everyone is doing,” Rei says. “I studied up on the concepts of long-distance swimming.” He puts a hand up to push his glasses up, blushing when he remembers that he isn’t wearing them.

“You may know the concepts perfectly, but the ocean is a dangerous place. If you want to do the same regimen, you should use a kickboard or inflatables.”

Haru holds their inflatable helpers, face dark. “Pick one.”

Nagisa is used to seeing swimmers using helpers when swimming, but he has to hold in his laughter when he imagines Rei using them, mostly because of how much it would go against Rei’s ideal of what is beautiful. Rei eventually chooses the kickboard, the least unappealing of the choices.

Nagisa pumps a fist into the air. “Let’s get started!” Then he runs towards the ocean, pulling his goggles over his eyes and enjoying the cool tickle of the water as it rushes towards his feet.

“Ah, hold on!” Rei says, rushing after him. “We’re supposed to start at the same time, Nagisa-kun!”

Nagisa laughs, now far enough in that he can stand with the water up to his shoulders. When Rei reaches him, he speaks in a low voice.

“I didn’t think the one of the deserted islands would be that one.”

“Nor did I,” Rei says, looking at his wrist in the water. His mark has a faint glow to it, and so does Nagisa’s, he notices a moment later. “There’s nothing we can do right now. We can investigate later.”

And Nagisa can’t help but agree. They can’t stay so close to Sukishima without investigating the place where they gained their superpowers. Going back to the Rest Howse might just help them determine why they have these marks and what they can do with them. He doesn’t get a chance to say any more, though, as Makoto and Haruka swim towards them, and their training camp officially begins.

 

* * *

 

 

Hours later, they crawl onto the shore of the mainland, exhausted from doing only half of their planned regimen. Rei in particular finds it difficult to get ashore due to fatigue from the amount of swimming he’s done. Even though Rei’s used to long-distance running from track club, long-distance swimming is obviously taxing on him.

“You did well for a first timer,” Makoto says. “Good work.”

Even with Makoto’s reassurance, it looks as though Rei isn’t completely happy with his performance.

Nagisa, on the other hand, is happy with how they did. “It feels like we’re really training now! We’ll be a lot stronger when this camp is over. If we win prefecturals and do well at regionals, we’ll be headed to nationals!”

“Yeah. It all sounds like a dream,” Makoto says, “but I want to see how far we can go.”

“If we place, we’ll get a bigger budget!” Nagisa reminds Haruka, who was looking uninterested. “Then we’ll be able to swim indoors during winter.”

“I hope so,” Haruka says, eyes shining at the idea.

“You’ll get to swim all the time!”

Together they make their way to the camp, where Kou waits for them with towels.

“Good work,” she tells them. “Was the training regimen from hell too hard after all? You only completed half of it.”

“Well, it’s only the first day,” Makoto reminds her.

“I-I’ll do better tomorrow,” Rei says, as though it’s his fault none of them are used to swimming long-distance.

“You’ll do fine, Rei-chan,” Nagisa says, hoping to cheer him up a little.

“I’ll catch up in no time.”

“That’s the spirit,” Makoto says.

A moment later, Amakata calls them up for pizza, and they rush to join her, stomachs rumbling in hunger.

 

* * *

 

 

“Mackerel and hokke!” Nagisa announces, revealing his customised pizza.

“Mackerel and pineapple!” Haruka announces after him, holding out his own pizza.

The others don’t look impressed.

“Pineapple is the one topping I’ll never put on pizza,” Amakata says, triggering an in-depth discussion about their least favourite food combinations.

As they start talking, Nagisa hops to Rei’s side. “What’s wrong?”

He had noticed Rei looking drawn in and not speaking at all, and so wanted to make sure he wasn’t brooding too much. After all, he is still a new swimmer.

Rei looks surprised by Nagisa’s concern. “Oh, it’s nothing.”

“Really?” Nagisa says. He’s not entirely convinced, but he doesn’t see the point in forcing Rei to talk if he doesn’t want to. He shrugs and rejoins the others, noticing in the background of his hearing that Makoto is now talking to Rei. He smiles to himself. If anyone can make Rei feel better, it’s probably Makoto.

It’s that very sentiment which convinces Nagisa to plead for a tent with Haruka that night. Aside from his own personal desire to chat Haruka’s ear off until he falls asleep, he knows that if Makoto and Rei talk at all before they fall asleep, it might make Rei feel better about swimming tomorrow.

“Then Haru and I will be in this tent,” Makoto says, pointing to the one they assembled earlier.

“Oh, but I wanted to sleep with Haru-chan,” Nagisa says.

“You don’t want to be in a tent with me?” Rei says, sounding vaguely offended.

Nagisa quickly comes up with an excuse. “You probably grind your teeth at night.”

“I do not!”

“We can use amida to decide,” Makoto says, breaking up the squabble.

Agreeing, Nagisa uses a nearby stick to draw in the sand, creating the means by which they quickly decide their sleeping arrangements, which come out exactly as Nagisa had wished.

In their tent, Haruka barely speaks, lying with his back to Nagisa as they try to fall asleep. At first, Nagisa thinks he isn’t going to speak at all, but then he does.

“What were you and Rei talking about earlier?”

“Huh?”

“When Makoto was explaining the regimen.”

Nagisa freezes. He hadn’t expected Haru to bring that back up. “Ah, we just recognised the name of one of the islands…”

Haruka doesn’t say anything. For a second, Nagisa thinks he’s escaped. Then-

“Is that where you met?”

Gulping, Nagisa knows he can’t lie this time. Haruka can sniff out lies more easily than his old dog could sniff most things.

“Yeah.”

They’re both quiet.

“Don’t go looking for it.”

“For what?”

“That place.”

Nagisa rolls over to face his friend.

“But Haru-chan-”

“It’s dangerous.”

Frowning, Nagisa can only remain silent. He can’t possibly promise his friend that he won’t go looking for the Rest Howse when he feels so drawn towards it, when it lures him with the promise of answers. Haruka doesn’t push him for an answer, drifting quietly to sleep instead of furthering the conversation.

Lying awake, Nagisa’s final thought before sleep hits him is that he won’t let anything happen to his friends. If going to the Rest Howse does prove to be dangerous, he’ll do his best to protect Haruka, Makoto and Rei. No matter what.

Of course, he doesn’t expect anything to happen before they reach the island, but that danger arrives more quickly than any of them anticipate.


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They spend the night on a fateful island.

The crashing of thunder. Rain falls hard upon the ocean, disappearing into tumultuous waves. In the distance, on a mysterious island, a single light shines. A face grins, looking down at a marked wrist…

 

* * *

 

 

Something bumps beside him.

Nagisa opens his eyes, blinking the fog out of them. Beside him, Haru is sat up, wide awake. What could possibly have woken him up at this hour, Nagisa has no idea.

“Haru-chan?”

Haru doesn’t face him, looking out to the exit of their tent. “Did you hear that?”

“Hear what?” All he can hear is the crashing of waves and the storm outside.

But Haru seems to think otherwise. “That voice.”

“Huh?”

Haru climbs out of the tent. Nagisa listens to his feet moving to their neighbours.

“Makoto?”

There is no reply.

Something must be wrong, if Haru is this concerned. Nagisa follows Haru, peeking into Makoto and Rei’s tent.

“What’s wrong?” he asks before noticing that their friends are missing. “Huh? They’re gone.”

“It’s still warm.”

Nagisa stifles a yawn. He’d been having a weird dream before he woke up. It would have been nice to see its ending. “Did they go to the restroom?”

Haru stands, shielding his eyes as he looks out to the ocean. Staying crouched down, Nagisa looks up at him. Does he see something out there? Surely there’s nothing odd, considering how bad the weather is.

“What is it?”

Haru’s eyes widen.

Nagisa stands. He follows Haru’s gaze out to sea. He has to strain his eyes before he finally notices two figures, struggling in the waves. Fear floods his veins. No, that can’t possibly be…

“Is that…”

Before he can finish his question, Haru dashes off, pulling his shirt over his head.

“Haru-chan!”

“Contact Amakata-sensei!”

“Huh?! Wait!”

He’s frozen to the spot. This can’t possibly be happening. That can’t be his friends in the ocean, not in this weather, at this time of night. But then he thinks again, back to Rei’s face earlier, his assurances that tomorrow he’d do better. His disappointment at not finishing the regimen.

How did he not see this coming?

He makes up his mind. Ripping his t-shirt off, he runs after Haru. “Wait, Haru-chan! It’s not safe to go alone!”

For once, Nagisa is glad he is a strong swimmer. It’s a struggle, but he and Haru make it over to their friends, fighting to stay above the water.

“Makoto!” Haru grabs his friend, holding him steady in the waves.

“I’ll get Rei-chan!” Nagisa calls, swimming further past his friends.

He barely hears Haru’s reply of “Please!” over the storm. Not that it matters, anyway. His first thoughts are with saving Rei. He tries to push aside his annoyance at himself for not noticing Rei’s behaviour earlier.

“Rei-chan, I’m coming!”

He’s almost there, with only a few feet to swim before he reaches Rei. All he can hear is the rush of waves. Then he looks up.

“No way.”

A giant wave looms over them, threatening them with all its power and danger. The fear in his veins almost paralyses him. Rei has no chance against this.

As the wave crashes down, Nagisa forces his way to Rei. Holding his breath, he dives under the water, feeling for a limb, any sign of warmth. He grabs Rei’s arm, pulling him up.

It feels like forever before they break the surface. Nagisa wraps his arms under Rei’s armpits, swimming them in the direction of what he hopes is the mainland. There’s no way for him to tell where they’re going. All he can do is hope it’s to somewhere safe.

By the time they reach the mainland, Rei is almost conscious, and Nagisa’s bones ache. He drags Rei onto the beach, putting him down as gently as possible before collapsing beside him. Rei chokes water onto the sand.

Nagisa sits up. It is only when he sees Rei, alive and conscious, that he feels a crushing sense of relief. He’s alright. He’s safe.

He guides Rei with a gentle hand to a log nearby, which Rei sits on, face in his hands. His body shakes, though with cold or fear, Nagisa isn’t sure. Thinking it best to leave Rei to recover for now, he moves back over to the water, looking out.

They’ve been here before. His mark is glowing in the dark, warm around his wrist. This must be Sukishima. This is the island.

A hint of blue catches his eye and Nagisa leans forward to grab it. It’s the kickboard. Smiling gently, he returns to Rei and holds it out.

“Here, Rei-chan.”

Rei finally looks up. His face is filled with shame and sadness, not a hint of happiness left. It’s no wonder, really, considering what’s just happened. He takes the kickboard, holding it loosely on his knees.

“Thank you very much.” The words sound monotonous, polite but filled with a tone suggesting the kickboard is the very last thing on his mind.

“Are you okay?”

“Yes.”

It’s a lie. Even Nagisa can tell that much.

“I’m very sorry about this,” Rei says.

Nagisa smiles a little more. “It’s okay.”

“But it’s my fault that everybody’s…”

“That stuff can wait. Right now we should go look for the other guys.” After all, Nagisa’s sure he already knows Rei’s reasoning.

Rei looks down.

“I’m sure they’re fine.”

“But I saw Makoto-senpai coming to help me, but he didn’t seem like his usual self.”

This is news to Nagisa. In any case, Haru’s with Makoto, so he’s sure everything can be sorted out easily. Still, he makes a mental note to keep an eye on Makoto when they find them.

“Don’t worry, Rei-chan,” he says. “We can talk to him when we find them.”

Rei looks up, then nods. “Okay.”

They’re both quiet for the most part as they walk along the shore. The storm is still going, rain pelting off their bare shoulders. The only warmth Nagisa feels is that from his mark, faint in his wrist.

“Are we on Sukishima?” Rei asks after a while.

Nagisa looks at Rei in surprise, then down at Rei’s mark. It’s glowing too.

“Yeah, we are.”

Rei only nods. For a second there is a mutual understanding of the fact that once more they are on the island where they gained these powers, and that they’ll be on this island at least until the storm passes.

The silence between them is one Nagisa can’t find the words to fill, and isn’t sure if he should. Even though talking might help Rei feel better, he doesn’t want to talk about anything important until they’re with the others. Haru and Makoto have a right to know everything too. So they continue to walk without speaking.

They haven’t been walking very long before Nagisa spots two figures in the distance.

“Ah, there they are!”

Underneath the cliff overhang, Makoto and Haru look around with wide eyes.

“Haru-chan! Mako-chan!”

When they get close, Nagisa is thrilled to see that neither of his friends are injured. It seems Makoto shares his feelings, too.

“Fantastic, you’re both okay!” Makoto says, standing to meet them. “Rei, sorry that I couldn’t save you.” His happy face becomes regretful.

“Don’t say that!” Rei says with a gasp. “I’m the one who should apologise.”

“It’s okay. I’m just glad you’re unharmed,” Makoto says with a gentle smile.

“It’s not okay.” Haru’s voice cuts through the rain, serious and foreboding. “Why were you swimming in the ocean at night?”

The look on Rei’s face tells Nagisa that perhaps this is time for him to butt into the conversation. It looks like Rei would find it painful to admit the truth, and Nagisa wants to spare him that pain.

“You were practising, right?” Nagisa says. “He wants to catch up to the rest of us.”

Even Haru gasps in surprise.

Quietly, Rei agrees with Nagisa.

“Besides,” Nagisa continues, “Rei-chan wasn’t the only one at fault. Mako-chan, you shouldn’t have tried to save him by yourself. And you just dove into the water without thinking, Haru-chan!”

“So did you.”

Nagisa laughs guiltily. “Well, at least everyone’s okay.”

They spend a moment smiling at each other, relishing in the fact that they’re all alive and safe. Together, they’re sure to make it through any tough situation like this one.

Suddenly, a shiver rushes through Nagisa.

“Anyway, isn’t it kind of cold?” he says, trying to hint to his friends that they should find shelter.

“Yeah, it is,” Makoto says. “I wonder if we can find shelter from the rain somewhere. Oh-” Makoto looks up and the rest of the group follow his gaze.

On top of the cliff above them stands a single lighthouse, the beacon shining brightly into the night. The lights around the edge are also shining.

Nagisa’s eyes narrow. This is a deserted island, so why is the Rest Howse full of light? Shouldn’t it be turned off, if no one lives here anymore?

Feeling eyes on him, he looks over to Rei.

“Should we tell them?” Rei mouths.

Out of instinct, Nagisa shakes his head. Makoto has already been through a lot tonight - they all have. They don’t need to add another piece of drama, this time more supernatural, to the evening.

“That lighthouse looks promising,” Rei says. “Shall we see if it’s open?”

Makoto and Haruka nod, and they all troop off to the Rest Howse.

It’s almost too easy reaching the lighthouse, mostly because both Rei and Nagisa remember the route, but they try to play it off as though they saw the pathway up the cliff, even though it’s half-buried in plants, taken over by nature.

The exterior of the Rest Howse is just as creepy as Nagisa remembers it. The paint has been worn down by years of rain and lack of maintenance. If the lights inside weren’t on, it would be even more creepy. Of course, that begs the question as to why they are on in the first place, if it’s been a year since they turned the power on last.

“Let’s go inside,” Haru says, breaking the silence.

Nagisa and Rei nod and start heading inside. They don’t have much to be afraid of - except whatever it was that made the crashing noises last time they were here.

In the background, Nagisa hears Haru talking gently to Makoto. Nagisa turns round and puts on a childish face.

“Hey, stop talking like a couple about to enter a haunted house.”

“Did you see that shadow?” Haru says, suddenly beside Nagisa’s ear, speaking in a low, scary voice.

Nagisa doesn’t jump. Not at all. He’s not worried that there will be a ghost in there at all.

(Okay, maybe he did jump a little.)

Finally, the four of them go into the Rest Howse. The interior looks entirely different in the light. In fact, it almost looks welcoming, except for the deteriorating furniture and walls.

The main entrance hall is empty, so they head into the kitchen next door. Nagisa can’t help but let out a gasp.

Doors all round the kitchen have been left open. Packets are all over the counters. This place is a mess, much more so than when he was here last. It’s almost as though someone has been here since they were here.

“The people here must have left in a hurry,” Makoto says, picking up an empty packet of instant ramen.

“Maybe they were hiding from the rain, like us,” Rei says. He gives Nagisa a look, as though to say he feels the same as Nagisa. Someone has been there since them.

“Or maybe they were looking for something,” Nagisa says. “Imagine if they’ve ransacked the whole lighthouse.”

Haru, who isn’t listening to their conversation, moves over to an open cupboard. “Do you think there’s any food left?”

An idea strikes Nagisa, almost as bright as the beacon above them. “Why don’t you and Mako-chan look for food here, and Rei-chan and I can look for supplies upstairs?” He winks at Rei.

Rei gives him a withering look, but nods. “I think that’s a good idea. That way we might find some towels or blankets.”

“Thanks Nagisa, Rei,” Makoto says, smiling. “We’ll try not to be too long down here. Should we meet back here in ten minutes or so?”

Nagisa and Rei nod, then head upstairs alone.

It isn’t until they get a couple of floors up that Rei speaks again, in a hushed voice.

“What are you planning on doing?”

“Just a quick search of the service room,” Nagisa says. “If someone has been here since we have, they might have gone all the way up. Besides, I want to know why all these lights are on.”

“I did think that was suspicious,” Rei says. “Fine, let’s go.”

It’s much easier this time for them to reach the service room. Truth be told, Nagisa is almost regretful that he doesn’t have to hold hands with Rei to find his way upstairs this time. As soon as he has that thought, though, he berates himself. Now is not the time to be thinking about that.

The service room is much smaller in the light. When they get up there, all they see is the single control panel, containing all of the switches for the power. Right in the middle of the switchboard is a silver lever, pushed all the way down.

“That’s the lever,” Rei says, moving closer to examine it. “Has it been like this the entire time?”

Nagisa shrugs. Just as he moves closer to Rei, he stands on something cold and round. Blinking, he picks it up. It’s a silver beaded bracelet, not unlike those found in girls’ accessory stores or in his sisters’ bedrooms. Nagisa has not-so-fond memories containing accessories like this.

But this bracelet wasn’t here the last time he was in this room. They were able to pick their way across without standing on anything. That must mean this is a remnant of the last person who was here.

“Rei-chan,” Nagisa says, holding out the bracelet. “Look at this.”

Rei looks up from the switchboard and frowns. “A bracelet? Why is that here?”

“I just stood on it. I think whoever was here last dropped it.”

His eyes widen as he takes the bracelet, running it through his fingers. “You don’t think that person touched the switchboard, do you?”

“I dunno, maybe. Why?”

“What if they had the same experience as us?”

It takes a moment for Nagisa to realise what Rei means. Someone becoming a hero like them? That couldn’t be too bad, surely. It would mean that this switchboard isn’t some ordinary piece of technology, though.

“That’s cool!” Nagisa says. “Does that mean anyone who touches this gets powers?”

Rei’s frown deepens. “That’s a bad thing, Nagisa. If anyone who touches this gains powers, then that makes it easy for people with bad intentions to gain the means to do whatever they want.”

“You don’t think whoever was in here…”

“I can’t say.” Rei looks down once more at the bracelet before handing it back to Nagisa. “Put that in your pocket. It might be important. We’d better get downstairs now, before the others start to worry.”

Nagisa looks at Rei for a second, trying to decipher the thoughts rushing through his head. But Rei is difficult to read, and Nagisa can’t see all of his reasoning. Instead of wasting his time, he follows Rei back downstairs to search the rooms for blankets.

 

* * *

 

 

Ten minutes later, they congregate in the room above the kitchen, around a small round table. On the table is a bottle of water and some tins of pineapple and mackerel.

“Here, everyone!” Nagisa holds out three aprons bearing the words _Sukishima Rest House_ , still wrapped in plastic. The fourth is already on his torso, warming him up a little.

“Why are we wearing these?” Rei asks. He and Nagisa split up before to look for supplies. Rei came back empty handed.

“I couldn’t find anything else. Don’t complain.”

Makoto puts his hands up. “We’re dry now, so it’s not necessary.”

Haru puts his on regardless of Makoto’s words.

“And once again…” Rei looks in disgust at the cans of mackerel and pineapple.

“Looks like we lucked out,” Haru says, plating up some of the mackerel with a slab of pineapple on top.

 _Mackerapple_ , Nagisa dubs it in his head.

“Uh, can’t you at least eat them separately?” Rei says right as Haru puts some pineapple on top of Rei’s mackerel.

“This water hasn’t expired yet,” Makoto says, changing the subject, “so we can boil and drink it.”

It takes them a while to boil the water over a single lantern flame; It looks like the Rest Howse was disconnected from gas years ago.

“Mackerapple and hot water,” Nagisa says in disappointment.

“You should be grateful we found anything edible,” Haru says.

“True. I just have to use my imagination.” Nagisa’s brain begins to whirr with possibilities. “This isn’t hot water - this is rich consomme soup! The ultimate soup, glistening gold!”

“Doesn’t that just make you feel worse?” Rei says.

“This is the problem with people who have no imagination,” Nagisa says, looking pointedly at Rei.

“At least it warmed us up,” Makoto says.

“Yeah.” Haru looks outside. “It’s still raining.”

Rei sighs. “I guess we’ll have to stay here until morning.”

Nagisa looks over at Rei. Even he doesn’t want to stay overnight very much, considering the events of their last stay here.

“What do we do next?” Nagisa says.

“Sleep.”

“Eh? But we’re stranded on a deserted island! Aren’t we supposed to harpoon fish and search for edible mushrooms?” He purposely leaves out the fact that he doesn’t really want to sleep here, just in case something happens. This Rest Howse definitely isn’t a normal creepy abandoned lighthouse.

Rei looks at him with an eyebrow raised. “This isn’t a TV show.”

“Still, it’s hard to go to sleep in this situation,” Makoto says. Nagisa silently thanks him over and over again.

As they think of what to do, an idea comes to Nagisa. “I know! That’s what we can do!”

 

* * *

 

 

Even by the time Nagisa has written their names on the faces of the box, the rain still hasn’t stopped. Still, all the more time to cheer everyone up with a game of Nagisa’s devising.

“Who’s it gonna be? Who’s it gonna be?” Nagisa sings as the box rolls along the dusty floor. It comes to a stop. “It’s Rei-chan!”

“Um, my name’s on three of the faces,” Rei says as Nagisa picks the box back up.

“That’s because you’re Rei-chan.” It’s also because Nagisa is sure the situations with Rei involved will certainly be the funniest.

Rei doesn’t seem to get that, though. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Okay, Rei-chan,” Nagisa says, sitting and ignoring Rei’s protests. “Tell us an embarrassing story!”

“Why does it have to be an embarrassing story?”

“Go ahead!”

Sure enough, Rei’s story of losing his underwear and having them being presented to him in front of the class is both hilarious and unfortunate. However, it does not result in laughter, so he tries again.

“Oh, Haru-chan’s up next. Tell us about a romantic encounter you’ve had!”

Makoto and Rei both look shocked at the idea that Haru could have been in love before. They look intently at Haru as he recalls a time if going hiking and finding what they assume to be a beautiful person, but turns out to be a-

“Waterfall?” they chorus, watching Haru close his eyes in bliss.

Nagisa doesn’t know what he expected. “That doesn’t count as a love story, Haru-chan.”

“Okay, I’m up next!” Nagisa volunteers, standing before his friends. “I’ve got a performance for you.”

Turning sideways, he waddles from one foot to the other, arms straight at his sides. He does this for a while and is greeted only by silence.

“What are you doing?” Haru finally says.

“You can’t tell? That was a rockhopper penguin imitation!”

“It was?”

“I couldn’t tell,” Rei says.

“W-what?! Why couldn’t you tell? Look at this!” Nagisa resumes his impression, trying to get his friends to see its excellence, when suddenly Makoto begins to laugh.

“Ah, Mako-chan!”

Makoto looks up in surprise and stops laughing.

Nagisa gives him a gentle smile. “You finally smiled. I’m glad. You seemed a bit subdued.”

His face becomes soft with his smile. “Sorry for making you worry.”

“Uh,” Rei says. “I’ve been wondering… When you tried to save me, you were acting strangely.”

“We’re not gonna discuss it,” Haru says.

“But-”

“Just drop it!”

A thick silence falls between them. Nagisa sits down, as though pushed by the dense atmosphere.

Finally, Makoto speaks. “Thanks, Haru. It’s okay. This is something I want to tell them.”

They listen quietly as Makoto tells his tale of a fear of the ocean, one which Nagisa had no idea about. For years, ever since the typhoon which killed the old fisherman Makoto was friends with, he has been afraid of the ocean. This was before Nagisa even met Makoto. Perhaps that’s why he is so shocked by the story. Or perhaps it’s the fact that despite his fear, Makoto has continued to swim ever since, even going as far as pushing himself to help make this training camp possible. Nagisa feels sick with guilt. If he had only known…

“That’s enough, Makoto,” Haru says softly at the end of his story.

“But you still tried to save me,” Rei says.

Nagisa looks over and sees how far Rei is from the rest of the group. Perhaps his guilt is even stronger, and he still feels like he doesn’t belong with them.

“Hey, can I ask you something?” Nagisa says. “If you’re scared of the ocean, why did you participate in this training camp?”

“Because I wanted to swim,” Makoto says, clenching his fists. “Because I wanted to swim with you guys. When the four of us swim together, I feel like we can go anywhere.”

The sentiment surprises all of them. But Nagisa can’t help but smile. It’s exactly like what they felt when they swam the relay, and when he and Rei stood together on that rooftop. There’s a binding connection between them, and Nagisa can see why it makes Makoto feel like anything’s possible. It’s like together, they’re invincible.

When everyone is quiet, Nagisa realises the lack of background noise. He looks out the window. “It looks like the rain’s stopped.”

Together, they journey out into the refreshed air. Looking up, they see hundreds, no, thousands of stars, glistening down upon them. It’s like nothing that can be seen in Iwatobi.

“Wow, it’s gorgeous!” Nagisa says.

“The sky is nice and clear,” Rei says. Then he points up. “That’s the summer triangle. There’s Vega from the constellation Lyra, Deneb from the constellation Cygnus, Altair from the constellation Aquila…”

“Is that a squid constellation?” Nagisa says, pointing up at a random cluster of stars.

“Where’s the mackerel constellation?” Haru says.

“Neither of those exist,” Makoto says, though he speaks with a smile.

“Then, is that the rockhopper penguin constellation?” Nagisa says, pointing once more at random stars.

“No such thing,” Rei says.

“What? That’s no fun. Let’s pretend there is one.” His eyes happen to catch light on the floor as they move, and he gapes at the sight below them. “Look at this!”

The puddles from the storm, huge and covering much of the ground around them, reflect beautifully the night sky. It’s as though they’re standing in a galaxy together, part of the stars.

Together, they smile as they stand in the night, part of the sky.

 

* * *

 

 

The rest of the night passes uneventfully. Exhausted, they find some old futons in a storeroom and pass out in the main foyer. They don’t sleep for long, since it is difficult to sleep in these circumstances. But that doesn’t bother them. When morning comes, they troop out of the lighthouse together, heading for the beach.

“Should we have turned off the lights?” Rei says, looking back warily.

“It’ll be fine,” Nagisa says. “Someone will notice and turn them off.”

In truth, he’s afraid. If he or Rei turns off the generator using that lever, does that mean they’ll lose their powers? He doesn’t want to give them up, not so soon after finding out the truth about them. If that means someone else has to turn the lights off, then Nagisa doesn’t mind. All he wants is to be able to explore and keep his powers from now on.

Rei doesn’t bring up the subject again, and they’re mostly quiet as they reach the beach.

They all look out across the ocean. The beach and their tents are clearly visible from here in the clear daylight.

“It’s not that far from here,” Nagisa says.

“If we wave, Amakata-sensei or Kou-san might see us,” Rei says.

“They’re probably still asleep,” Haru points out.

“Hopefully they’ll notice we’re missing when they wake up and send a boat,” Nagisa says. He’s pretty tired, and doesn’t feel much up to swimming across. Besides, he doesn’t want to push Makoto to swim in the ocean again.

But then Makoto speaks. “I’ll swim over and let them know.”

“Huh?!”

“Don’t be stupid,” Haru says.

“He’s right!” Rei adds.

“But the ocean is so calm right now,” Makoto says, looking back out to the waves. “Plus everybody’s here with me.”

The calm look in his eyes and the meaning behind his words brings hope to Nagisa. “I’ll come with you, then!”

Despite the tiredness in his body, he runs towards the water, eager to swim across with his friends. He hears Rei agree to swim too and run to meet Nagisa in the water. The two of them are already shoulder-deep when Makoto joins them.

“Okay! Let’s see who can get there first!”

“A race, huh?”

“Fine with me.”

Nagisa looks back and sees Haru, surprisingly still on the beach. “Hurry up, Haru-chan!”

“Let’s go, Haru!”

Laughing and giggling, the four of them swim together through the sea, slowly making their way back to shore. It doesn’t take them long to get onto the beach, and it takes them even less time to collapse on their backs, passing out in the warmth of the sun.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Mackerapple: in the anime, instead of "mackerel and pineapple", Nagisa says a combination of the two words. I didn't want to leave it as "sabappuru" (the Japanese which he spoke), so I translated it. It doesn't exactly match, but I hope it made sense.


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things start to get a little fishy.

The sun blazes down upon them. Sweating, they run the last length of beach before the beautiful, cool sea hits their toes. It’s a reverie, melting into the cool sea for a lap to the next island, even if it does make them even more physically tired.

Somehow after last night, today’s training session feels more enjoyable. Everyone is smiling and swimming together, unable to forget the connection of friendship they found. If only they weren’t so tired, perhaps their training would be even more enjoyable.

Nagisa sighs, thinking back to when they were awoken only an hour ago. Kou had to call loudly for them to wake up. Even after explaining what happened last night, Kou allowed them only half an hour’s more rest before they began their regimen for the day. In some ways, Nagisa is glad about this. If they slept for longer, they’d only get half as much swimming done. Still, he’d have liked to have a full night’s sleep. He stifles a yawn, wandering after his friends onto the next beach.

It hits him immediately. He lets out a cry of pain. Usually the heat from his mark only occurs under the skin, but today it prickles the skin of his other hand when they touch.

“Nagisa?”

He looks up to see Makoto and Haru looking at him in concern. Beside him, Rei is also looking at him, but with wide eyes and a hand clasped around his own wrist.

“Aah, I stubbed my toe on a rock,” Nagisa says with a nervous laugh.

Haru narrows his eyes before turning away. “Be more careful.”

Nagisa isn’t sure Haru bought his excuse, but he shrugs and follows them anyway.

As they jog, Rei slows down to run beside Nagisa, allowing Makoto and Haru to jog ahead, talking between themselves.

“Is your wrist hurting too?” Rei asks under his breath.

“Yeah,” Nagisa says. “It’s burning.”

“It wasn’t like this last night.”

Nagisa thinks back to how he felt last night when they were even closer to the Rest Howse than they are now, running along the beach of the same island. Even then, it didn’t feel as warm as it does now.

“Do you think something happened?” After all, usually their marks become warm when there’s danger nearby.

“Maybe.”

“You don’t think we’re in danger here, do you?” Nagisa casts an anxious glance towards Haru and Makoto.

Rei doesn’t answer.

“Nagisa! Rei!” Makoto calls from ahead. “You need to keep up!”

“Yes!” they chorus, ending their conversation and running faster towards their friends. There’s nothing they can do right now about the danger on the island, so they have no choice but to ignore it for now.

 

* * *

 

 

“Good work today,” Kou says. Once more she greets them with a towel when they finish their training.

Nagisa is the last to take his towel. “Thanks, Kou-chan!”

“You guys performed a lot better than yesterday,” she tells him. “Even though you slept for so long on the beach.”

“We would have slept for longer if you hadn’t woken us up!”

“You wouldn’t have needed so much sleep if you hadn’t gone to that island in the first place.”

The last comment is directed at Rei, who flinches and looks away.

“Kou-chan, don’t be mean.”

Kou glares at him. “I wouldn’t need to be mean if you guys actually told me anything. All I know is that Rei-kun went swimming last night and that you were all stranded in a lighthouse.”

“That’s what happened, though.”

“Well, with the way you’re all looking at each other and talking in low voices, can you blame me for thinking you’re not telling me something?” Kou’s face screws up in anger and she storms away, her red ponytail flicking behind her.

A lump forms in Nagisa's throat. Perhaps he should tell her already about his and Rei’s powers, then she wouldn’t feel so left out. Even if he had just come up with a better lie when telling her about the bruises on his face, that might have made her feel better. It’s too late now, though. Unless he wants to expose his and Rei’s secret, he’ll just have to hope that he can make up with Kou soon.

But it seems like Kou doesn’t want to make up. She doesn’t talk to him at all during dinner, though she makes conversation with everyone else as usual.

“Maybe we should all go to a restaurant for dinner one night during our training!” Amakata suggests.

Nagisa starts to say, “That sounds great!” but Kou interrupts him.

“As long as it’s not to the restaurant nearby, there have been a lot of complaints about food poisoning recently.”

“Oh really? That’s unfortunate.”

Every time Nagisa tries to speak to Kou or as part of a discussion Kou is having, she blanks him completely or talks over him. By the end of dinner, Nagisa is almost frightened of how formidable Kou can be when you get on the wrong side of her.

“We’ll be going to bed first,” Amakata says as she and Kou gather up their belongings. “We’ll see you in the morning.”

“No swimming in the ocean tonight,” Kou says, looking pointedly at Rei. Her face then turns to a cheerful smile as she bids goodnight to everyone, not sparing a glance at Nagisa.

The guilt and disappointment Nagisa feels soon disappears, however, when Haru takes him aside to talk to him.

“Do you mind switching tents with Makoto?”

Nagisa blinks. He didn’t expect Haru to ask him something like that. Despite the hint of sadness he feels at not sharing a tent with Haru, though, he’s glad Haru suggested this. At least now he can talk to Rei about what happened on Sukishima in private. It might also make Makoto feel more comfortable, having Haru beside him.

“I don’t mind.” Nagisa smiles. “Make sure Mako-chan isn’t afraid tonight, okay?”

Haru’s eyes widen a little before he nods and returns to Makoto’s side.

When they return to the tents, Nagisa takes his belongings from the right-hand tent and moves it to the left one, passing Makoto on the way there.

“Sleep well tonight, Mako-chan!”

Makoto smiles gently. “Are you sure you’re okay with swapping? You wanted to sleep with Haru, right?”

“It’s fine with me! I wanted to talk to Rei-chan, anyway.”

“Okay. Goodnight then.”

Inside the left-hand tent, Rei is already in his pyjamas, reading a book. Nagisa throws his blanket onto his side of the tent and drops his bag, collapsing beside Rei.

“Today has been exhausting!”

Rei lowers his book. “We still didn’t complete the regimen, though. It’ll be even tougher in the next few days.”

“I know, I know.” Nagisa sits up, turning in place to face Rei. “Are you sure you’ll be alright, Rei-chan? I know you want to catch up, but you shouldn’t overexert yourself.”

“I’m fine. I have stamina from track club. Swimming in the sea is a challenge, but since I have my friends with me, I know you’ll help me out if I need help.”

Rei's directness surprises him, especially with his faith in his friends. It's a change from how he was a few weeks ago.

Nagisa smiles widely. “I’m glad.”

Rei looks over to him, a blush visible on his cheeks. Then his eyebrows furrow in thought, his eyes travelling all over Nagisa’s face.

He feels nervous, having Rei look at him this closely. “What is it? Do I have something on my face?” He tries to keep his voice light as he speaks, but it betrays him by shaking.

“I was just thinking,” Rei says quietly, his concentration not fully on the conversation.

Rei’s hand drifts up, his fingers falling gently onto Nagisa’s face, tracing the area around his cheekbone. Nagisa freezes. His face feels hot where Rei’s fingers lie. Not just his face - his entire body is warm.

“Your bruises are healing really well.” Rei’s voice is as gentle as his touch, reserved only for Nagisa’s hearing, full of care.

Nagisa looks up from Rei’s wrist into his eyes - violet, shining despite the dying light, his thoughts invisible behind them. They concentrate on Nagisa’s face. This is the first chance, Nagisa realises, that he’s had to see Rei’s face up close. His skin looks smooth and soft - he probably uses moisturiser, and the exposure to water it’s had recently might have helped. His eyelashes are short and neat, no longer hidden behind the sheen of the red glasses. His cheeks are still flushed, even in the cool night.

A moment later, Rei’s eyes meet Nagisa’s. They feel closer than ever now, the intimacy between them reaching boiling point. For a second, Nagisa contemplates moving even closer, testing the boundary between them.

Then they spring apart. Overcome with embarrassment, they avoid each other’s eyes, blushes covering their skin.

“I-I apologise, I d-didn’t realise what I was doing…”

“N-no, no, it’s fine, really…”

They sit in silence for a moment before Nagisa stands.

“I need to put on my pyjamas.”

He leaves the tent without looking at Rei, too embarrassed with the thoughts going through his mind. By the time he returns to the tent after changing and brushing his teeth, Rei is asleep. Nagisa lies down on his side of the tent, trying not to let his mind wander too far.

 

* * *

 

 

The next day begins as one of the most uncomfortable experiences of Nagisa’s life. When he awakens, it is to an otherwise empty tent. A flash of fear hits him and he sits up. Rei can’t have gone back out on his own again, right?

Sunshine glares through a gap in the front of the tent, where the flap hasn’t been closed properly. The covers beside him, still warm, have been put back carefully, and Rei’s pyjamas lie on the pillow. Nagisa’s gaze wanders to the front of the tent, and he realises that he must be the last to awaken.

Thinking about Rei brings back memories of last night. Sitting close together, their warmth mingling. Rei’s touch, soft as cotton on his cheek. One second of eye contact, drawing them closer together.

A blush erupts across Nagisa’s face. He can’t believe he and Rei were _that_ close. It isn’t the closeness that makes him blush, though - it’s the thought of what could have happened. What Nagisa _wanted_ to happen…

Nagisa shakes his head. He can’t have these kinds of thoughts. Ever-increasingly, he’s been thinking of that kind of situation with Rei. But he can’t allow himself the temptation here. Not at their training camp, where he’s sharing a tent with Rei. He can’t make Rei feel uncomfortable with things like this. As much as he would love to be that close to Rei more often, it would be dangerous to their relationship. Nagisa has only recently gained Rei’s trust. He can’t put it in danger like this.

A hand appears on the tent flap, pulling it aside to let a face peer in.

“Nagisa?” Makoto says. He’s already dressed in shorts and a t-shirt. “It’s time to get up, we’re going to get some breakfast at the lodge.”

“At the lodge?” Nagisa mumbles in reply. Yesterday Kou brought them their breakfast, so Nagisa assumed the same would happen today. To hear that they’re going to have their meal somewhere else, though, is a surprise. Surely it would cost too much?

“Yeah, apparently there’s a buffet, and it’s not too expensive. Amakata-sensei said it would be fine for us to eat there.”

Flashing him a quick smile, Makoto’s face disappears.

Nagisa blinks sleepily. Usually he’d wonder why they’re suddenly getting priveliges like this. When his stomach grumbles loudly, though, he doesn’t waste time thinking about it. Quickly changing, he heads out of the tent to join his teammates.

Makoto, Haru and Rei are all dressed and ready outside. While Makoto and Haru greet Nagisa, however, Rei keeps his eyes on the ground, avoiding contact. Nagisa looks away before Rei can catch him staring. Somehow, he doesn’t think he’ll be talking much to Rei today.

It doesn’t take them long to reach the lodge, where in the foyer of the main centre, Kou and Amakata await them.

“Good morning, everyone!” Amakata says. “The dining hall’s just through here. I’ve already paid for the four of you for breakfast.”

They thank her and continue into the dining hall. Inside are many tables, some for twos and fours, others for larger groups. The main attraction, though, is a lineup of tables near the back wall, all of which carry a variety of food, sizzling on grills and cooking in toasters. Nagisa almost runs to reach it, his stomach carrying him forward ahead of his friends. His mouth waters as his eyes take in the selection of foods. Picking up a paper plate, Nagisa reaches for the tongs beside a grill of fish.

“I wouldn’t get the fish, if I were you,” a voice beside him says.

“Huh?”

The boy beside him looks at him with a disinterested expression. “There have been rumours that the fish around here’s contaminated. Definitely doesn’t taste good.” He picks up a single apple, keeping his other hand in the pocket of his black track jacket. Without another word, he walks away towards a group of other people wearing the same jackets.

With a hint of regret, Nagisa replaces the tongs and moves towards the continental breakfast section.

“Do you know that guy?” Kou asks from beside him. It’s the first words she’s said to him since yesterday. She sounds too casual, when you consider her behaviour yesterday.

Nagisa shakes his head. “No. Do you?”

“He’s wearing a Samezuka jacket.” Kou looks over to the group, and Nagisa follows her gaze. Now he thinks about it, he did see Rin wearing that same jacket at their joint practice. “What was he saying?”

“Something about the fish being contaminated,” Nagisa says, looking back over to the grill. In front of it is Haru, a hand on his chin, deep in thought. “It’s just a rumour, I think.”

Kou’s eyes narrow. “That’s not the first rumour I’ve heard about this area. It can’t be a coincidence.”

Nagisa turns back to her. His mind returns to the Rest Howse, the control panel, the lights turning on by themselves. He doesn’t see how contaminated fish can be related to superpowers, though. Still, the idea of solving mysteries during their training camp sounds fun.

“Maybe we could look into it,” Nagisa says. He spoons himself some yoghurt and puts some strawberries into it.

“It’s nothing we need to worry about,” a voice interjects as Rei stands beside Nagisa, reaching for his own bowl of yoghurt.

“It will be if Haruka-senpai eats that mackerel,” Kou says darkly, moving away, presumably to speak to Haru.

“Rei-chan, don’t be a stick in the mud,” Nagisa says, looking up at his friend. “This could be interesting! It might have something to do with the lighthouse!”

Rei doesn’t look at Nagisa, concentrating on the fruits in front of him. “If the lighthouse isn’t posing a problem, then I don’t suppose we should be looking for a reason for it to be a problem.”

Before Nagisa can reply, Rei walks away, finding a table to himself in a corner of the dining hall and pulling a book out of his pocket. Nagisa sighs. At this rate, he’ll never be able to talk to Rei properly again. Even the mere thought of never speaking to Rei again sends a spike of fear into him. He’s only known Rei for a couple of months, but he can’t go back to not speaking to him, not with the amount they have shared together, and the amount that they could share. Nagisa doesn’t know what he did wrong, though. Why Rei is acting this way towards him. Surely what happened last night wasn’t that bad. Unless Nagisa did something in his sleep...

“Nagisa,” a soft voice says, breaking him out of his thoughts. Beside him, Makoto’s eyes are drawn together in concern. “Come and sit down. I think Rei needs some time to himself.”

Nodding, Nagisa walks with Makoto to the table where their companions are sat. A part of Nagisa wants to smile when he sees the sulky expression on Haru’s face, and the lack of mackerel on his plate. Then he remembers the lack of Rei at the table, and the urge to smile is gone.

He tries to seem jovial throughout breakfast, making lighthearted conversation despite the heaviness of his heart. It’s good to see that Kou is on speaking terms with him again, but even that can’t cheer him up much. All he can think about is how Rei doesn’t want to speak to him. How weird Rei is acting.

It continues all day. It’s hard for the others not to notice the rift between Nagisa and Rei. Rei doesn’t speak a word to any of them as he conducts his training. Nagisa speaks much less than usual too, but his eyes betray the act he puts on when he does speak. Needless to say, the others are worried. Even Nagisa has noticed the looks Makoto and Haru have been giving each other when they think Nagisa can’t see them.

“Nagisa,” Haru finally says on their final lap of Sukishima. Makoto and Rei, both faster runners, are ahead of them, out of earshot. “What happened?”

“I don’t know,” Nagisa confesses. He keeps his eyes ahead of him, focusing on Rei. “Rei-chan’s just been avoiding me today, and I don’t know why.”

“Didn’t he say something at breakfast?”

Nagisa’s eyes widen in surprise and he looks over to Haru. He hadn’t realised Haru was paying attention to them. “Well, yeah. Kou-chan was telling me about some rumours about these islands, and I said we should investigate. But Rei-chan just said it’s none of our business. Even after everything that happened here…”

“You think it has something to do with your powers?”

“Yeah.”

Slowing to a stop, Nagisa looks down at the faint glow of his mark on his wrist. He’s gotten used to its warmth when he’s on this island, but he still can’t help but question why it’s there, how this came about, what this means. He has so many questions, and he doesn’t understand why Rei isn’t asking any of them.

Haru stops a few paces ahead of him, looking up at the lighthouse. The beam from the bulb at the top is illuminated, and as are a few of the windows. There isn’t any sign of anyone being inside.

“Something definitely happened that night,” Nagisa says. “The lights up there, the contaminated fish, not to mention our powers-”

“Didn’t I say it’s none of our business?”

In front of them, Rei and Makoto have stopped. For the first time today, Rei is looking at Nagisa.

“It isn’t posing a problem,” Rei says. “Don’t go looking for one.”

“Can’t you see that it is causing a problem, Rei-chan?” Nagisa says, feeling hot rage in the pit of his stomach. “The fish are contaminated. People are talking about the lights from the lighthouse. What if someone investigates and gets hurt, or gets powers and turns evil-”

“That’s highly improbable!” Rei says, his eyes flaring up. “These islands are abandoned, the Rest House is in disuse. People are probably being scared away from here.”

“Not everyone is afraid of things like this! Some people find it interesting!”

“Be reasonable-”

“You’re the one who’s not being reasonable-”

Suddenly, a great screech fills the air.

They turn to the source of the sound just in time to duck out of the way as a blurred object hurtles towards them, crashing into the sand behind them. The creature lifts itself up using wings the span of a car, blowing sand at them with the force of each beat. Its eyes gleam over a hooked beak, filled with malicious intent.

“What is that?” Makoto says, voice trembling.

“It’s a bird,” Haru says.

This isn’t any bird Nagisa has seen before. Though it bears resemblance to the birds which live in this area, this thing is much larger, much more dangerous than any other bird Nagisa has seen around here.

With another screech, the bird hurtles toward them at a speed to quick for its size. Nagisa and Haru dive out of the way, only to find it knocking Makoto and Rei over, sending them a few metres back. The bird rises above their friends, who try to scramble out of the way. The bird lands on them, pinning each one to the beach with a clawed foot.

“Makoto!” Haru yells, making a motion to run forward before Nagisa grabs his shirt.

“No, Haru-chan! It’s too dangerous!”

“But-”

“I’ll handle it!”

Nagisa lets go of Haru, who doesn’t move. He only watches as Nagisa grasps his wrist, feeling the heat pulse beneath his fingers.

_‘I need to save my friends from this thing,’_ he thinks. _‘Please!’_

The heat consumes him, and he is Rockhopper once more.

“Help!”

The bird’s beak is getting closer to Rei’s face, its beady eyes glaring into Rei’s frightened ones. Any moment now, the bird is likely to hurt Rei more than any of them could ever imagine.

With a rush of anger, Rockhopper runs forward. Even in the sand, his feet move without resistance. He realises a second too late that he should have planned his next moves, but he is already grasping the bird’s feathers, trying to hold around its breast.

The bird beats its wings, straightening up, but Rockhopper’s hands dig more firmly into its back. He cannot let this thing hurt his friends, even if that means he has to act as a decoy. After a few minutes of struggling, the bird finally lifts up from the ground, releasing its claws from Makoto and Rei. Even though he’s saved his friends, however, staying on the bird’s back is becoming increasingly difficult. It begins to fly in circles, twisting and turning in the air, trying to shake him off. Rockhopper tries to keep holding on, but his fingers slip a little with each sharp movement.

“Nagisa!” Haru yells from below him, but his voice sounds distant, and looking down, Rockhopper realises that the bird has lifted him a fair distance from the ground. He can’t help but laugh as he realises that if anyone from the mainland looked over right now, it would surely spark a new rumour.

But he stops laughing with the next movement. The bird turns swiftly, and he’s grasping at its tailfeathers, inches away from a long drop. He freezes, his knuckles whitening as his hands tense. One more turn, and he is going to fall.

In the heat of the moment, it’s difficult for him to think of a plan, especially considering the danger he’s in. All he can think about is the fact that his last words to Rei were part of an argument, that he never got to swim at nationals, that he hasn’t even found the answer to all of his questions-

The bird turns sharply. He looses grip. Plummeting to earth. There’s nothing he can do but pray he lands in water. He closes his eyes.

“NAGISA-KUN!”

Arms close around him. The rush of wind against his body dies, and he is still. All he feels is the rhythmic beat of something behind him, all he can feel is the warmth around him, calming him. He opens his eyes.

He’s still in the air. Much closer to land now, but still airborne. Below him, the sea and the sand greet each other, two of his friends staring up at him with horrorstruck eyes. More immediately, there are arms around his torso, hands grasping him so tightly they’re pale with tension. The sleeves are dark purple. Underneath one, a light pulses, the shape of a butterfly barely visible.

“Rei-chan?!”

He tries to look behind him, but the movement of his neck is restricted by the closeness of the two bodies. All he can see is the tips of Rei’s wings, beating in and out of view.

Rei doesn’t speak as they slowly touch the ground, both collapsing on the sand beside each other.

Nagisa feels his transformation reverse, his bodysuit reducing to his jammers. He sits up, staring at Rei with wide eyes. Rei is still transformed, his wings closing back up into their stick-like state. He moves onto his knees, the transformation peeling away like a plaster, the mask disintegrating to reveal his eyes. The shades of purple dance as his eyes return to their normal size, shining as they fill with emotion.

“You’re okay,” he whispers, as though he doesn’t dare believe it.

Feeling a flurry of emotion swell within him, Nagisa launches forwards, his arms enclosing Rei in a tight hug. He doesn’t speak, letting the contact speak for itself.

“N-Nagisa-kun!” Rei says, but he doesn’t recoil. He awkwardly pats Nagisa’s back, and Nagisa can’t help but smile into Rei’s chest.

His next words are muffled by fabric, spoken directly into Rei’s heart. “I’m sorry for annoying you.”

“What?” Rei leans back, his eyes meeting Nagisa’s. “You don’t annoy me.”

“Then why were you avoiding me? And refusing to take interest in what I had to say?”

It only takes a blink for Rei’s face to transform into a pink mess, a blush flooding his cheeks. “Th-that is- I wasn’t-”

“It’s fine,” Nagisa says, sparing Rei from having to give his reasons here and now. “Just don’t do it again, okay? Tell me next time.”

Rei takes a deep intake of breath before nodding. A small smile graces his lips. “Okay.”

Their moment is broken by a third voice. “Are you two okay?”

Nagisa and Rei look up. Makoto and Haru have approached them, wearing expressions of deep concern.

“Did it hurt you?” Makoto says to Nagisa. He is no doubt remembering the way the bird had manhandled Nagisa before dropping him.

“I’m fine! Rei-chan saved me, so it’s all good!” Nagisa grins.

“We should head back,” Haru says. He looks over to the beach, and the others follow his gaze. On the shore opposite them, Kou and Amakata are laying out their food, oblivious to everything that just happened to them.

“Yeah,” the three others chorus, following their vice-captain into the ocean, glad to have survived another traumatising ordeal.


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As their training camp draws to a close, the mysteries only grow more mysterious...

Something is definitely fishy.

Nagisa can’t help but run through everything that has happened in his head. All the evidence he has of something being not right. _The superpowers; the lights in the lighthouse; something being wrong with the fish here; that bird yesterday; the way our marks burned on Sukishima…_

At this point, he’s not sure even Rei could put this down to being a coincidence, or none of their business. It’s not like any of this is happening in Iwatobi. All these strange events are happening in the place where they got their powers. Not their hometown. Not somewhere a million miles away. And what’s more, most of these events are tied to Nagisa and Rei directly. It’s only when they were near the lighthouse that the lights went on. The bird attacked them. It’s their marks which burned. He can’t speak for the fish, but maybe some evil power went into the ocean and contaminated the fish. Or maybe there’s a supervillain trying to throw them off the scent with rumours so they can succeed in world domination.

For Nagisa, these are all likely scenarios.

Still, the only person who seems interested in this is Kou, and she doesn’t even know half the truth. Nagisa isn’t sure why they’re still hiding this from her, but he isn’t about to blow their secret without at least talking to Rei about it first. If only Rei would listen to his conspiracy theories, it would make this a whole lot easier. However, Rei has taken the stance of Makoto and Haru by saying that investigating this would be too dangerous. He also added the fact that if Nagisa’s supervillain theory is true, then by investigating the rumours, they would be playing right into their hands. Even Nagisa couldn’t argue that one.

“Besides,” Rei says the next day during breakfast, “if it’s to do with us, then it shouldn’t be a harm to anyone else, right? So we don’t need to worry, so long as we can fight it off.”

Nagisa doesn’t point out that both Haru and Makoto have been victims of this, as well as whoever ate the contaminated fish.

For the most part, however, the rest of their training camp goes smoothly. They swim together, completing their regimen more quickly every day. At night, they sleep with the arrangement decided on the second night, with Nagisa and Rei sharing a tent. Nowadays, there’s still an awkward atmosphere between them at night, and they don’t speak much before they fall asleep.

Their minds feel as though it’s the first day of camp, but their bodies feel the strain of their sixth day of training, the day before they all return to Iwatobi. Their regimen is drilled into them at this point, so much that they can swim it without thinking. They have all improved their times, and even their hopes are beginning to rise. Maybe now they stand a chance of doing well in prefecturals. Maybe they can swim with Rin again.

“You did great today, guys!” Kou says as they return from their last leg. She hands them each a towel. “It looks like you’ve all improved.”

Rei in particular looks pleased at this news. He has improved more than anyone else during this training camp, although he still needs to use the kickboard when swimming long distance.

“At this rate, we have a better chance of swimming with Rin at prefecturals,” Makoto says.

“That is, if he didn’t eat any fish,” Kou says with an amused smile. Noticing their confused faces, she elaborates. “Apparently some of the Samezuka swimmers are really ill. The only similarity between them is that they ate fish at some point this week.”

The words spark Nagisa’s concerns once more. Maybe something did happen on Sukishima which caused the fish to become contaminated. How else would it all suddenly go bad without anyone noticing?

“Too bad it’s our second-last day of camp,” Kou says, looking forlornly into the middle distance, “or else we could have investigated. What a shame.”

Her remark is pointed at Rei, who looks away, lips pursed.

“It’s not any of our business,” Rei says. “Something probably went wrong in the factory. The workers will figure it out.”

By the look on Kou’s face, it’s easy to tell that she doesn’t believe him, but she doesn’t argue. Instead, she turns to Nagisa.

“By the way, there was something I wanted to talk to you about.”

Nagisa gulps. Surely she hasn’t figured out that he stole some of the sweets she brought for dessert, right? “What is it?”

Kou shakes her head. “Not here. Come with me.”

Nodding, he follows her without complaint. This must be something different, if she wants to talk to him alone. She wouldn’t spare him a public scolding for stealing food.

After a short walk they reach a deserted part of the beach, near a cliff jutting out into the ocean. Kou sits down on the beach, facing the water. After a moment, Nagisa joins her.

“Before I say anything,” Kou says, looking over to Nagisa, “is there anything you want to tell me?” Her eyes are blazing, full of a fierce determination and expectation which Nagisa can’t figure out.

For a second, he considers confessing to her about their powers, but he can only picture Rei’s face, and feels terrible for considering it. He can’t tell her without him.

“I don’t think so.”

Kou looks at him, eyebrows dropping an inch. Then she sighs and looks back out to the sea. “You know, at this point, I don’t know why you’re still acting like something isn’t going on. It’s obvious you’re hiding from me. You and the rest of the boys.”

Nagisa looks down, feeling his throat constrict. His acting hasn’t been convincing.

“Luckily, I think I’ve figured something out myself.”

The words make his heart stop. He looks up, but Kou’s eyes are still watching the waves.

“I saw you yesterday.” She says the words in a simple tone, as though they explain everything. “When you were on Sukishima. Amakata-sensei and I were getting dinner set up, and I happened to look over to see how you were doing. Only you weren’t running or swimming.”

How didn’t Nagisa think of this before? Of course Kou saw them. Even if she acted like everything was normal up until this point, it was a pretty obvious sight to see. It’s hard to conceal a midair battle with an oversized bird.

“You were fighting some huge bird. Then suddenly you were wearing different clothes, and the bird had you in midair. Then Rei-kun was wearing different clothes, and he was flying to catch you from falling.” She gives a small, forced laugh.

“I didn’t think you noticed,” Nagisa says, scratching the back of his neck.

“Of course I noticed,” Kou says, finally looking at him. “It wasn’t exactly hard to miss, was it? I didn’t say anything last night, though. I was still processing it. But then I heard about the fish, and the rumours about the lighthouse-”

“The Rest Howse?” Nagisa claps his hands over his mouth. “Sorry.”

“Apparently the lights went on by themselves,” Kou says after sending him a scolding look. “This week and in the summer last year. Anyway, the rumours and the sight of that bird made me realise that something is going on, and that you must be a part of it.”

Nagisa looks down. His toes are coated with sand, like a second skin, or a fragile shell. “I think you’re right.”

“You think?” Her voice is no longer annoyed, but curious.

This is it. There’s no choice but for him to explain everything. “I think there is something weird going on in this area, and I think it involves us - or rather, Rei-chan and I.” He goes on to explain everything that has happened so far with their powers.

“So those bruises-”

“They were from a fight. Sorry for lying, Kou-chan.”

Kou shakes her head, her red hair catching the light as it settles on her shoulder. “No, it’s okay. I understand why you were trying to keep it a secret.”

"I know it must have been frustrating for you, Kou-chan," Nagisa says, looking at his toes again. It's been obvious because of her behaviour, but even thinking about how she must have felt, being the only one in the swim club who wasn't in on this secret, it makes him feel even worse for not telling her sooner. "I'm sorry."

In the corner of his eye, he sees Kou look back to the ocean. "I was frustrated. I wish you had told me and I didn't have to figure it out for myself."

"Yeah, but the only person I've told is Rei-chan, technically," Nagisa says. "Everyone else was there when it first happened. Haru-chan, Mako-chan, even Rin-cha-" A second too late, Nagisa realises what he's saying and claps a hand over his mouth.

A moment of silence passes. Slowly, tentatively, Nagisa looks over to Kou.

She's practically ablaze.

"You mean to tell me my brother knows about this but you didn't bother to tell me?!"

"It was an accident! He was there when it happened, I didn't exactly decide, 'Oh, I'm not going to tell Kou-chan this, Rin-chan needs to know more than she does!'"

"But he still knows!" Kou looks away, crossing her arms over her chest. "He could have at least mentioned something."

Nagisa smiles. "Well, if he didn't let anything slip to you, I'm sure he won't have told anyone else, either."

"He doesn't talk to me that much, anymore," Kou says. She tries to sound matter-of-fact, but her sadness creeps into her voice.

"Even when you've been over this week?" Nagisa remembers Kou mentioning going to see the Samezuka swimmers a few times this week. He thought it was to see Rin.

Kou looks over to him, her face blank. "That was to record information about the swimmers. Onii-chan has ignored me just about every time I've been there."

"Ouch."

Shrugging, Kou stands up and looks back to where the others are. Nagisa follows her gaze. They're talking to Amakata, probably about their training regimen or their plans for tonight's dinner.

"We should get back," Nagisa says, feeling like their conversation is at its end.

Without a verbal response, Kou starts to walk back, completely ignoring Nagisa's startled attempt to follow after her.

 

* * *

 

The night is suprisingly filled with joy. Even after everything that's happened during their training camp, they are able to have a dinner filled with delight in a nearby restaurant. (They're all careful not to choose fish, even, reluctantly, Haru. Nagisa goes a step further and chooses a vegetarian meal, which he regrets upon seeing everyone else's delicious foods.) After their meal, Haru stays with Amakata whilst the rest of them make up an excuse of going to the shops. Instead they prepare, with difficulty, a birthday surprise for Haru.

It was a complete coincidence that Haru's birthday would be their last day of training camp, but when they realised, all of their team knew they had to do something to celebrate. Even though Haru wouldn't care if they did nothing, they end up making a giant sand cake with a sand mackerel and seventeen fireworks for candles. It's a struggle, since Haru isn't one to sit in a hotel room all night, especially with only their club advisor for company. By the time they finish the cake and show it to Haru, it's already pitch-black outside. However, they manage to have a successful birthday celebration, and their club goes to bed feeling, on all accounts, happy.

When Nagisa returns to his and Rei's tent, however, the atmosphere is cooler.

It's not as cold as other nights. Whilst most nights this week have been spent in complete silence and embarrassment, tonight's events have warmed them up, made them feel more social and forget a little about their inhibitions. He and Rei smile and make short conversation as they get ready for bed and lie down on their sides of the tent after saying goodnight to everyone.

Then the silence kicks in.

Any other night, Nagisa wouldn't have dared to make conversation. After the other night, he's been somewhat afraid of saying something wrong, and he doesn't want to start another argument with Rei. Tonight, it feels a little safer to start a conversation, but before he can even think of what to say, Rei is speaking.

"This week has been better than I thought it would be," Rei says. His voice is soft, barely audible, even to Nagisa.

"Really?" Nagisa tries to mimic Rei's quietness, but volume control never came naturally to him, and his whisper is almost at normal speaking volume.

Rei doesn't complain, or even send him a judging look. Instead he continues to gaze at the roof of the tent. "Yes. I thought this camp would be a lot of fooling around, since we're on a beach, and the events of this week have made it a little more difficult to enjoy."

Nagisa thinks back to the bird and can't help but agree.

"However," Rei continues, "it has been a joy to be able to be with my friends for this week. To train with you all and to stay together in such harmony is the most fun I've had in a long time." Rei looks over to Nagisa, his eyes bright and clear, not hidden behind his glasses. For once, his emotions are shown almost to their full extent. "And it's all thanks to you that I get to experience this. So thank you, Nagisa-kun."

Nagisa blinks and feels himself blush. The words make his heart skip a beat, and his throat constricts. "Actually, Rei-chan, I don't know if Kou-chan told you-"

"She knows about our powers?" Rei says, an eyebrow raised. "She mentioned it to me when you were trying to stop Haruka-senpai from leaving the hotel room."

Even though Rei is smiling, Nagisa can't help but feel guilty. "I'm sorry, Rei-chan. I didn't mean to tell her everything, but she already found out-"

"It couldn't be helped." Rei shrugged, which he somehow pulled off when lying down, even though it's difficult. "I think we should have told her earlier, anyway. She's an important member of our team, too."

Nagisa nods, looking up to the tent ceiling. It moves a little in the breeze from outside. His mind is racing with words now, and he decides to pick out the ones he's wanted to speak for a while. "I'm really glad you joined our team, Rei-chan."

He feels Rei's eyes on him from the side, can almost feel the question they hold.

"You were on the track team, and I didn't think you were gonna leave it," Nagisa says. "I wasn't going to make you. If you were happier there, then that's fine. But I didn't want to stop trying to be your friend. Especially because of what brought us together." Raising his wrist, he looks at his mark. It has a faint line of light around the edges. "Most people would think something like this doesn't matter, but it makes us partners, right? I don't know what I'd do without you helping me out, Rei-chan. Imagine if you weren't there the other day - I would have died, right?" He laughs, even though the subject isn't remotely funny.

Neither of them speak for a minute, and Nagisa wonders if Rei has fallen asleep. Turning his head to the side, however, reveals Rei looking at him with an earnest expression.

"I would never let you fall."

A balloon swells in Nagisa's chest. He feels his eyes widen and the warmth return to his cheeks. His mouth even falls open a little, and he sits up, just an inch. "Rei-chan...?"

Rei doesn't break eye contact, mirroring Nagisa by sitting up and balancing on his elbow. "You are not only the one who brought me to this club, but you've also shown me so much friendship and camaraderie since we've met. Without you, I don't think I'd ever have been this happy. It's thanks to you, after all, that I'm able to fly. You're the best partner I could ever ask for."

In this moment, Nagisa feels like he's the one who can fly. He sits up fully, feeling his eyes begin to tingle. "Rei-chan..."

"We should go to sleep now," Rei says, but is interrupted by a hit to the chest as Nagisa tackles him in a hug, closing his arms around him and pushing him back into a lying position.

Nagisa ducks his head into Rei's chest, his emotions overflowing, and smiles.

"Thank you so much, Rei-chan."

Above him, he feels Rei's mouth mould into a smile in his hair. "No, Nagisa-kun. Thank you."

Without moving, the pair of them fall asleep, tangled in an embrace.

 

 

When Nagisa wakes up, he feels blissful.

He also feels very hot.

Despite the heat clamouring against him, he snuggles more into his pillow, which is firmer than he is used to. He didn't buy a new pillow, did he? Wait, no, they're on the training camp, this can't be a new pillow. So why is his pillow so firm? And why is is moving?

Slowly, Nagisa opens his sleep-filled eyes, only to see that his pillow is now purple. And it's not a pillow.

Everything comes back to him. A blush returns to his cheeks at the realisation that he must have fallen asleep after hugging Rei last night, and that he is somehow still attached to him. Rei must be so annoyed with him for this - what if he tried to get Nagisa off, but Nagisa was too clingy in his sleep?

But then Nagisa feels an arm around his waist shift a little.

_Rei is hugging him back._

His blush intensifies, and he's sure he must look pretty sunburnt, even though he usually doesn't burn easily. He can't believe Rei is actually hugging him back. He isn't pushing him away or shying from contact. _They're hugging_. They _slept_ together.

Trying to block the embarrassing thoughts, Nagisa screws his eyes shut again, trying to return to the pleasant dream from last night, where the details were blurry but he woke up feeling satisfied. For now, all he wants to do is savour being this close to Rei, rather than feeling embarrassed about how Rei must feel, or thinking about things which may make him even more embarrassed later.

His pillow-not-pillow moves again, only slightly. Rei's arm winds a little tighter around Nagisa's waist.

Nagisa can't help but think about this happening every morning. Waking up in Rei's embrace, next to his warm body, feeling this satisfaction and joy every day. He lets his mind wander a little farther, imagines waking up and pressing a soft kiss to Rei's chest, and Rei kissing the top of his head, in the most gentle way he could muster. His face grows warmer, but a smile comes to his face. That would, of course, be the ideal situation.

But then he remembers where they are, both physically and in terms of their relationship. When Rei wakes up, he is going to be so embarrassed by this. Considering he was embarrassed when they looked at each other closely, with Rei's hand on Nagisa's cheek, such intimate contact as this will make Rei combust. In reality, Nagisa should separate himself now, to spare Rei the embarrassment. But he can't bring himself to do so. He's too comfortable here.

So instead he pretends to sleep. They can deal with this later.

 

* * *

 

"Nagisa, Rei, wake up- Oh?"

Once again, Nagisa opens his eyes. So much for falling back to sleep.

Beneath his head, he feels Rei's chest move as its owner wakes up, barely aware of his surroundings.

"Breakfast," Makoto says from the face of the tent, the tone of his voice amused. The light shifts in the tent. He must have left.

The vibrations from Rei's chest as he hums almost startle Nagisa. He picks up his head and looks up at Rei.

Barely awake, Rei blinks the dust from his eyes. In this moment of just waking up, he looks gorgeous. His hair is dorky, sticking up all over the place, but Nagisa's is probably the same. His sleep-raw eyes are beautiful in this light, though they'll be covered by glasses soon enough. This is a chance to see Rei in a rare form.

Rei moves his eyes gradually until they lock onto Nagisa's. "Nagisa-kun...?"

The two of them look blearily at each other for a second before Rei springs upwards, launching Nagisa to the other side of the tent.

"N-Nagisa-kun?!"

"Ouch..." Nagisa sits up, rubbing his nose.

"A-ah, sorry, Nagisa-kun." Rei looks genuinely sorry, putting on his glasses hastily so he can see the damage. "You surprised me."

Nagisa smiles weakly. "It's fine. Sorry, I must have fallen asleep when I hugged you last night."

"It's fine, it's fine." Rei looks over to the tent entrance. "I wonder what time it is?"

Shrugging, Nagisa picks himself up and moves over to the flap. "I'm going to get breakfast."

There's no reply from behind him. Nagisa looks over his shoulder. "Rei-chan?"

For a second, Rei's eyes are glazed over, staring into the middle distance, but he shakes his head when Nagisa speaks to him. "A-ah! Sorry, Nagisa-kun. I'm just coming."

The two of them leave the tent and join the others at a nearby picnic table, where Amakata and Kou have already set everything up for breakfast.

"I heard you two slept comfortably," Kou says with a jesting smile.

Rei blushes and tries to stutter an answer, which Nagisa confidently speaks over with a cheerful confirmation.

For the most part, their morning is uneventful. After breakfast they dismantle the tents and gather up their belongings, then take a final walk around the local souvenir shops so Makoto can pick something up for his twin siblings. Then, finally, they return to the pier, where Sasabe awaits them, boat in tow.

The trip back to Iwatobi goes more smoothly than the initial trip, especially on Rei's part, though he still gets seasick. They chat about their training camp and make plans for their next club session before parting ways, everyone returning to their homes for the first time in a week.

On the train, neither Nagisa or Rei speak much. They're both tired, and Rei still looks pale, holding a handkerchief to his mouth "just in case". Still, their silence is comfortable enough, and Nagisa ends up resting his head on Rei's shoulder, closing his eyes and trying to fall asleep, though he isn't too successful.

As he lies semi-awake, he feels Rei move his shoulder to accommodate Nagisa's head, and for a second, he swears Rei's cheek touches his head. Then Rei's head moves away again, and the rest of the journey passes in silence.

If only, Nagisa says to himself later, Rei had said something, anything, at that time. Maybe Nagisa would have an indication of how he felt.

 

* * *

 

"How was your trip?"

Nagisa is surprised to hear the words come from his sister's mouth, rather than either of his parents'.

"It was good."

"Did you get me any souvenirs?" Nanako laughs as she asks the question, and Nagisa elbows her jokingly.

"Knock it off!"

"Oh, come on! I thought you'd have gotten me something!"

Nagisa tries to stop her from putting him in a headlock, then notices a flash in front of his eyes. For a second, he swears he sees something underneath his sister's bracelet.

_Bracelet..._

He ducks out of the way and makes a grab for his sister's hand. "Did you get a tattoo on your wrist?"

With surprising force, Nanako tears her wrist away.

A moment passes in which the two of them look at each other with equal degrees of shock. Then, slowly, Nanako smiles, though it looks forced.

"No, I just got some pen on it."

"Is that why you're covering it with your hand and a bracelet?" Nagisa asks jokingly.

Nanako jabs him in the arm. "It's none of your business!" Then, without another word, she stalks away, far too angry, in Nagisa's opinion, for the situation that has just occurred.

As he climbs the stairs to his room, Nagisa's hand falls into his pocket, where the bracelet from the night on the island lies. He frowns.

_They look similar..._

Nagisa pulls it out. Indeed, the bracelet is similar to the one Nanako was wearing just now. Silver, with a bunch of charms on it.

After looking at it for a minute, he shrugs and puts it back in his pocket. Bracelets like these are probably popular.

He returns to his room, a shadow of doubt following him all the way there.


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the end of their training camp, it feels odd to return to normal life.

After the end of their training camp, it feels odd to return to normal life. They're still swimming every day, but it's easier without the resistance of the sea. The pool, as much as Haru denies it, doesn't have a life of its own.

The strangest thing for Nagisa, though, is returning to a life without so many strange occurrences. He half expects another giant bird creature to attack them out of nowhere every moment, but it never happens. Even the lack of feeling in his mark irks him, and sometimes he wishes something would happen to make it warm.

But for the most part, being back is good. They've all improved their times in the pool, and they're starting to feel confident about doing well at prefecturals, which are creeping up like New Year's does after Christmas Day. Rather than being nervous, Nagisa is full of joy. He can't wait to swim in the competitive pool again, and to see Rin and Haru's fateful race.

Rei, on the other hand, seems more nervous, though he tries not to show it. He works harder than everyone else during practice, sometimes staying late to do one more lap of butterfly (which turns into ten more). One day, Nagisa sees Rei reading a book on swimming theory while they're having a break from swimming.

The days are filled with excitement and training, passing quickly through the strenuous exercise. Eventually, it's the day before prefecturals.

In unison, the four boys throw their coins into the shrine, ring the bell and clap their hands in prayer. After bowing, they disband, Nagisa, Rei and Makoto taking seats on some nearby steps whilst Haruka and Kou find the place which sells _omikuji_.

"Rin-chan isn't swimming butterfly or the relay?" Nagisa says, thinking aloud about the information Kou gave them a couple of days ago. Apparently, he is focusing only on the 100m freestyle. It's a shame that they can't swim relay with him, but it isn't like they are participating in the relay, either. They didn't sign up for it. "Is it because Haru-chan isn't in those?"

"Why does it matter if Haruka-senpai isn't in an event?" Rei asks, a genuine question rather than a statement against Rin.

Nagisa smiles a little. "That's just how they are."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Now, now," Makoto says, interrupting the conversation and patting Rei on the shoulder. "We decided to stick with individual events too, so we could focus on our strengths."

Rei frowns and looks down. Then, under his breath, barely audible, he says, "I wanted to swim in a relay."

Surprise infects Nagisa and Makoto, who look at each other with expressions of equal joy. Nagisa in particular feels like he could sing. Rei wants to swim the relay with them! It's a miracle! If they can get Haru to agree, the four of them could swim a relay together and experience that same sight again!

"You want to be in a relay, Rei-chan?!"

When Rei starts to talk about how he became infatuated with the relay, Nagisa feels like he is falling for Rei all over again. His speech and actions are so passionate, filled with a real joy for something which Nagisa knows from experience is just as good as Rei makes it sound. Even his talk about the specifics of the butterfly technique is interesting, and Nagisa leans in to hear more, intrigued and joyful, when suddenly Rei is interrupted by a cry from the other direction.

"What is this, Haruka-senpai?!"

The three of them rush over. Nagisa is a little disappointed he didn't get to hear what Rei had to say, but he's also dying to know what's happening with Haru.

"Huh? What's going on?" he says.

They look over Haru's shoulder to read the fortune he holds out in front of him.

"Half-luck?" Makoto reads. "I've never seen that before."

"Does that mean half your luck is good?" Rei says, scanning the details below the general fortune.

"What's the other half?" Kou says.

"Nice!"

"That doesn't make sense, Nagisa-kun."

"What? I think it does."

"I have to disagree," Makoto says, and the four continue their argument without any input from Haru, who is silent throughout the rest of the evening.

 

* * *

 

Later on, Nagisa can't help thinking about it. "I wonder what that meant, though."

"It's not like it matters," Rei says, pushing up his glasses. "So long as Haruka-senpai has some good luck, is that not good enough?"

Nagisa shrugs. The two of them are walking home together, shaded by the evening sunset and the green trees, which sway in the breeze. It's a familiar, comforting scene which slowly becomes obscured by the lights of the town and the buildings which stretch above them. They continue walking in any case, talking about whatever comes to mind as day turns to night.

"Hey, Rei-chan," Nagisa says. "You meant what you said, right? About the relay."

"Of course," Rei says. "Why would I say it if I didn't?"

"I know, I know." A smile grows on Nagisa's face, and he can't help but let out a little laugh.

"What?"

"It's just - I'm really happy, you know?"

Rei looks at him for a second, an eyebrow raised as though trying to figure out what he means.

Nagisa looks up at the sky, watching as the first stars begin to pinprick its surface. "You know, it made me happy when you said that earlier. And also what you said on the last night of training camp. I never thought a few months ago that you would ever like us, but you've ended up being on the swim team, and I can't imagine you not being here. So thank you, Rei-chan."

He feels Rei's eyes on him, hears the intake of breath at Nagisa's words, and his smile grows a little. He hopes Rei gets how much he means to Nagisa.

"Nagisa-kun-"

Before Rei can continue, his words are drowned out by a shriek.

With a single worried glance towards each other, they run into the alley from which the screech came. In it is a group of men, crowded around a girl around their age, who cowers against the wall. The men are all wearing strange clothes, leather suits of dark material and black balaclavas.

Nagisa's mark burns.

Without a second thought, Nagisa puts his hand to his mark and focuses his energy on it, transforming on instinct into his alter-ego. A second late, Rei follows his example, and they are Rockhopper and Butterfly, the crime-fighting duo once more.

The flashes from their transformations catch the eyes of the men, and they look over to their end of the alley, their eyes glowing menacingly in the dark.

"What the hell do you punks want?" says one of the men in a familiar growl. When his eyes adjust to the darkness, they narrow and his face screws up in a scowl. "Oh, it's you two brats!"

It takes a moment for Rockhopper to recognise the voice, before his face turns into a scowl. "Oh, it's you. Are you trying to be a - what did you call it? - weirdo in latex, too?"

The gang leader's scowl transforms against Rockhopper's expectations into a menacing smile. "I'm not trying, short-ass. I'm the real thing."

Before either of them expect it, the gang member is in front of them, throwing a punch which Rockhopper dodges, though he feels the force of it whip past his face. This guy is strong.

"So you too, eh?" Rockhopper says. "Good to see you're using your powers for good." His eyes land on the girl being cornered. She looks somewhat familiar, her eyes wide and face pale.

"It's surprising, right?" the man says. "You'd never think we'd be like you." He leans closer, his cigarette-infused breath heating Rockhopper's face. He resists the urge to cough. "I told you we'd be back. We'll never let you hear the end of it, after what happened last time."

"And we'll never let you get away with your ill intentions," Butterfly pipes up, his chin held high.

The man turns on him, his face looking at him with an almost natural air of confusion. "Who are you again? Oh yeah, this guy's sidekick, right?"

Rockhopper steps forward, grabbing the man's attention. "He is my partner."

"Your _partner_?" The guy laughs, his voice echoing sharply in the alley. "Ah, so he's your boy-toy."

His hands ball into fists. Glancing over the gang leader's shoulder, he notices that the other two are surrounding the girl, keeping her pinned against the wall. It won't be easy to get them away this time, especially if they have powers, too.

"So, I bet you're wondering how this happened?" the man asks, grinning and showing off his yellowing teeth. "I bet knowing would please you, right?"

Rockhopper doesn't answer. He is still trying to decide whether it would be a better idea to stall for time or to get the fight over and done with now.

The man's face falls into a disgusted scowl. "You're not even curious? What, do you have no emotions? Are you just some husk?"

Rockhopper finds himself glaring at the gang leader, wishing he would just stop talking for a moment. "What does it matter how you got powers? All that matters is how you use them, and it doesn't look like you're using them for good."

"What a fucking goody-two-shoes." The man scoffs, turning away for a second to look back to his companions. "Are you hearing this guy? Doesn't matter, he says, my ass doesn't it-"

Taking his chance, Rockhopper launches forward, his fist flying for the man's face, coiled and ready to punch him. However, at the last second, a hand grabs his wrist, and he finds himself on the ground, his back and arm aching. A second later, Butterfly is thrown at his side. The man puts a foot on Butterfly's stomach and leans down to look at Rockhopper.

"Did you not believe me?" The quiet tone of his voice is what makes him sound dangerous in this situation. "I told you I have powers, and you still try to get the best of me? There's no point. I can beat you easily, now."

This is it. Rockhopper has no idea what to do. His instincts are failing him, his mind collapsing. There's no way they can get out of this situation.

"Hah, are you planning on taking the two of us on alone?" Butterfly says, his words somewhat muffled by pain. "The two of us are stronger than one of you."

The man grins, his eyes narrow slits, gleaming in the night. "You asked for it." Standing up straight, he takes his foot off Butterfly and stands back. "Oi, you two. Let the girl go. We've got better meat to play with."

The words shock Rockhopper, and for a second he thinks the man must be joking, but as he and Butterfly stand, he sees the men step away from the girl. She stands still for a second, frozen in fear, before bolting out of the alley and into the brightly-lit street.

Rockhopper almost sighs in relief. This must be a miracle. The gang leader has made a huge mistake - surely that girl is going to look for help and send it their way, now.

"Now," the gang leader says, bringing their attention back to him. In the dark of the alley, his silhouette is menacing, flanked by two cronies in the background. "It's three against two, right?"

Ah.

Rockhopper and Butterfly fall into a battle stance. Lightly, Rockhopper touches his mark, bringing his weapon out of it. None of the gang members notice it, concealed in the darkness.

The gang leader doesn't look at all intimidated. In fact, he looks crazily like he's enjoying himself. His eyes widen with excitement, his teeth bared in a grin. "Now, come!"

And the battle begins.

Immediately Rockhopper and Butterfly are at a disadvantage, being received by three enemies, but it soon becomes clear that the only one with powers is the gang leader, and not the cronies. They must be dressed this way to intimidate them, rather than for any real purpose. In any case, Butterfly takes down one of the cronies with a roundhouse kick. In the meantime, Rockhopper throws his snowflake at the other crony and focuses his physical attacks on the leader, who blocks every one. With a grin, the man grabs Rockhopper's foot during a kick and flips him, forcing him onto the ground once more.

Rockhopper jumps upright and takes a few steps back, readying his gravity. Then he is gone, jumping off the side of a wall and using the gang leader's head as a stepping stone to reach the other side, which he jumps from to return to the ground. The gang leader's grin is gone, now, and he reaches forward to swipe at him. Rockhopper dodges, hitting him with a well-placed kick to the face.

Whilst Rockhopper and the gang leader dance around each other in combat, Butterfly takes on both of the cronies. Though they are weaker than their leader, particularly due to their lack of powers, they are still nuisances, and it takes Butterfly a lot of effort and movement to throw the two of them off. As soon as one is down, the other one is ready to attack, leaving Butterfly without an opportunity to catch his breath, or to check how his partner is faring.

The battle seems endless. Rockhopper feels the physical fatigue begin to settle in, and judging from how his mark is tingling, he's sure his transformation will reverse pretty soon. But all he can do in this situation is deflect the gang leader's attacks and hope his own connect well enough to take the man down. After all, it's not like there's much else he can do. Perhaps with the assistance of Butterfly, this fight would be easier. Why, oh why, did they have to taunt the gang leader like that? Why did they make this battle harder for themselves?

Suddenly, Rockhopper finds himself against a wall, the gang leader in front of him, murder in his eyes.

_'Shoot, I wasn't thinking properly'._

One, two, three, four punches dodged with quick head movements, but then the fifth winds him, and the sixth moves too quickly from his stomach to his chin for him to recover. The gang leader has the upper hand, landing multiple attacks on him in a row.

_'That's it,'_  Rockhopper thinks as he takes another hit, _'we're done for.'_

He's resigned himself to being this man's punching bag when suddenly, the gang leader recoils with a shriek.

Rockhopper looks through puffed-up eyes, bracing himself for another hit. But the gang leader doesn't attack him again. He is looking in the opposite direction facing an unknown silhouette in the alley.

Taking a step forward, Rockhopper's foot makes contact with something metal, and he looks down. His weapon. Picking it up, he throws it at the gang leader, where it makes contact, knocking him down. A second later, something wraps around the gang leader, keeping him in place.

Rockhopper, breathing heavily, looks up. In front of him, kneeling before the gang leader, is a stranger.

_Help_.

"Na- I mean, Rockhopper."

Looking to the side, he sees Butterfly approach him. His face looks much cleaner than Rockhopper's feels. Behind Butterfly, the cronies are also tied up, lying unconscious in the alley.

"Are you alright?" Rockhopper asks.

"I'm fine. But Rockhopper, your face..." Butterfly reaches out, his eyebrows crinkled in concern.

However, the hand doesn't make it to Rockhopper's face. It stops in mid-air when a voice speaks to them.

"What the hell were you two thinking?"

They turn around. The stranger in the alley stands, her hair falling gracefully around her shoulders. It's difficult to see her outfit in the darkness, but Rockhopper can discern a bodysuit like theirs, two fake ears atop her head, and a mask concealing her face, with the exception of her eyes, which are bright blue, cold as ice in the dark.

"Who are you?" Rockhopper says, his question asked more in awe than in suspicion. Is this woman like them...?

But the woman doesn't answer his question. "Why were you fighting these gang members? Those two are wimps, but this guy could have killed you." She kicks the gang leader gently. He lets out a muffled noise of pain.

"We have a history," Rockhopper says, though he isn't too glad about it.

"History doesn't matter," she says. "Don't go looking for fights." She turns away, walking towards the end of the alleyway.

"Hold on! You didn't tell us your name."

Stopping, she looks over her shoulder to look at them. Any emotions in her face are indiscernable. After a pause, she says quietly, "Okami."

Without another word, she walks away, leaving the two alone in the alleyway (aside from the unconscious gang members, of course).

Rockhopper follows her with his eyes, intrigued. Things are getting interesting.

 

* * *

 

 

That evening, when he gets home, Nagisa knows there will be trouble. His face is evidence enough of that. But he tries to lie low, keeping his head down as he closes the door and takes his shoes off at the _genkan_. He almost makes it to the stairs before he is intercepted by his sister.

"Oh, you took a while getting home. How was your camp-"

Nanako stops talking and stares at Nagisa's face, her mouth open wide in shock. She doesn't even ask. She doesn't need to.

"It's nothing," Nagisa says, waving it off. "I just got hurt at camp, it's nothing too serious."

He expects some kind of rebuff, but his sister says nothing.

For a second, he debates asking what's wrong with her, but instead he takes the chance to slip past her, going up to his room without another interruption.

Still, once he's there, he can't help wondering about it.

_What was up with that reaction?_


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prefecturals are here, and things just keep getting tenser.

The next morning gives Nagisa no time to contemplate his sister’s reaction last night. Five minutes after his third alarm goes off, he scrambles out of bed, rushing to get everything together at the last minute. He doesn’t have time to grab breakfast, yelling a quick goodbye to his family before dashing out the door towards the train station.

It’s only when he’s sitting on the train beside Rei that he has time to think. After last night, both of their minds are preoccupied, so they don’t speak much on the way to the station.

When they get to the station, they stand together by the map of the area to wait for their teammates.

“How did they react?” Rei says finally. “Last night.”

Nagisa looks over to Rei, surprised that he remembers him worrying about his family’s reactions from the last time they were in a fight like this. “My parents didn’t see. My sister was really shocked, though. She didn’t say a word.”

“That’s odd.” Rei’s unblemished face is filled with surprise, no evidence of last night’s activities present on it. “Your sister doesn’t seem like that’s how she would react. And you’ve had injuries like that before.”

Nagisa raises a hand to the bruises on his jawline. “And just when the last bruises were healing, too.”

Rei’s face softens. “I’m sorry. I should have helped you.”

“You were busy with the other two,” Nagisa says, looking over to Rei. When their eyes meet, he notices how tired Rei looks. Surely that isn’t just because of the battle from yesterday, right? “There was no way you could have helped me with those two on your tail. You did a good job of keeping them out of the way, though.”

“In any case, it’s in the past now,” Rei says. “What we should be worried about is that woman who showed up.”

“Okami.”

“Yes. Who was she? Why did she help us?”

“I don’t know, Rei-chan.” Nagisa thinks back to the woman and doesn’t recall seeing any features he recognised. “I was just as surprised as you. Besides, what we need to worry about now is the fact that it’s prefecturals today.”

Rei blinks, a million thoughts disappearing at the realisation. “Ah, yes, of course. How could I forget.”

Nagisa smiles a little. “Are you nervous, Rei-chan?”

Mumbling a reply, Rei looks away, his cheeks red from embarrassment.

Before Nagisa can reply, he hears footsteps coming towards them and turns to the source of the sound. “Haru-chan, Mako-chan! Over here!”

Their friends walk towards them, Makoto greeting him with a wave. Haruka keeps his eyes on the floor. As they get closer, a frown appears on Makoto’s face, and Nagisa remembers that the two of them don’t know what happened last night. To distract them, Nagisa turns their attention to Rei.

“Check this out! Rei-chan was so nervous that he didn’t get any sleep!” He points to the bags under Rei’s eyes.

“I wish I had nerves of steel like you,” Rei says dryly. Nagisa can hardly tell how much of his words are acting and how much is true annoyance.

Nagisa waves the words off. “You’ll get there soon enough. Just relax!”

“That’s right,” Makoto says without much thought, “but Nagisa-”

“Okay! It’s time for the tournament! Let’s do our best to make a good showing and get ourselves a bigger budget!”

“Yeah,” Makoto and Rei chorus, the former sounding uncertain.

They begin to walk together, Nagisa keeping to the front of the group to avoid Makoto. After all, he doesn’t want to have to explain everything that happened last night when such an important event is occurring. Part of him feels guilty for not telling him, but he promises himself to after the races are over. They are the most important part of today’s events.

After registering at the stadium, they head through out into the stands of the main arena, overlooking the outdoor pool. The 50-metre stretch of water shines in the sunlight, and the amount of sights to take in distracts Makoto from asking Nagisa about his face.

They take seats on a bench, Nagisa taking care to sit on the end of their group, furthest from the aisle as Haruka takes the aisle seat. Rei sits beside Nagisa, separating him from Makoto’s questioning glances.

Not long after they arrive, Kou and Amakata show up and take their seats on the bench, each of them giving Nagisa a questioning look but not voicing their concerns. Kou at least looks like she has an idea of what happened. Nagisa finds himself glad that she knows about their powers now.

“Here’s the program for the first day,” Kou says after taking some paper out of a bag. The swimmers gather round her, looking to see what times they’ll be swimming at. “They’re starting with free in the morning. Haruka-senpai is in the fourth heat.”

Eyes raking through the list of swimmers, Nagisa gasps. “Haru-chan and Rin-chan are in neighbouring lanes.”

“The heats were drawn based on qualifying times, right?” Makoto says to Kou, who nods.

“That means they’re even,” Nagisa says.

“The eight fastest times from each event advance to the final and qualify for regionals.”

Nerves begin to set in now, and Nagisa realises that he needs to try to beat everyone in his heat to have a chance of competing at regionals. It will take a lot of effort, especially for Rei in the butterfly, but they’ve worked hard, particularly during their training camp. They should be fine.

“It’ll be alright,” Amakata says, directing their attention to her. She sits on the bench under her parasol, smiling. “There’s no need to be nervous. Just swim the way you usually do. The most important thing is to never give up. There’s a quote from Napoleon: ‘Five minutes make the difference between victory and defeat.’”

“Five minutes?” Nagisa frowns. Doesn’t Amakata realise that in swimming, events rarely last five minutes at all, unless they’re over 400 metres?

Kou starts to explain this to Amakata, and the boys retreat, laughing.

“Well, guys,” Makoto says, addressing the first years, “do the best you can in each event. Let’s make sure we can leave with no regrets.”

Makoto gives him a glance filled with an emotion Nagisa can’t place, a combination of something between concern and disappointment. But that isn’t what he’s talking about when he tells them to have no regrets, so the two first years answer positively, invigorated by his words.

“Yeah!”

Even so, it’s a while before their events begin. They spend most of their time watching the other swimmers warm up, listening to Kou’s explanations on who they are and what their specialities are. Soon after they start watching, Haru heads off to prepare for his race. Makoto is silent after that, and Nagisa and Rei can only shrug, having no idea why his face looks so grave.

It’s over in a flash. Haru and Rin step up to the starting blocks, and a minute later they reach the end of the pool, Rin taking the victory by a matter of milliseconds. Then Rin gets out of the pool, looking down on Haru as he speaks to him, and leaves without a backwards glance. Slowly, dejectedly, Haru hauls himself out of the pool and follows through to the changing rooms.

Their hearts sink. Not only did Haru lose, lowering their morale for how their own races might go, but the exchange with Rin at the end didn’t look good. The four students sit back on the bench, not paying attention to the final freestyle heats. With Haru having lost, there’s nothing else on their minds any more. Nagisa barely remembers that soon, he’ll be in that pool too. They all still have races to compete in. This isn’t over yet.

Later, Mikoshiba from Samezuka sets a tournament record, and whilst they’re all impressed, two of their party are too distracted to notice. Kou barely responds to Nagisa and Makoto speaking to her, and Rei keeps looking at his watch and looking behind himself.

Finally, Makoto breaks the silence. “What’s wrong?”

“Haruka-senpai isn’t back yet.”

“Oh, you’re right.”

“He’s probably taking a shower,” Nagisa reasons.

Rei looks back at his watch. “He’s taking a long time, though. I’ll go check on him.” Standing, Rei heads off up the stands.

Makoto follows him, telling him to wait, and Nagisa follows the two of them. Both he and Makoto know that at this point, Haru probably wants to be alone. Even if they are worried, they should let him have time to himself.

“Wait, Rei,” Makoto calls, finally catching Rei’s wrist in the hall leading towards the changing rooms.

“Why are you stopping me?” Rei says, looking back at him with an indignant expression.

“Well, it’s because-”

“Rei-chan, calm down.”

“Aren’t you worried about Haruka-senpai?” Rei keeps his eyes on Makoto as he asks the question, so they only notice someone approaching by the sound of their footsteps.

“Rin-chan!”

Rin stops in the middle of the hall, looking up at them in surprise. His eyes widen a little when his eyes catch Nagisa’s face, but they quickly return to a glare. “You guys.”

For a second, they all look at each other, unsure of what to say. Then Rin looks down, as though realising something.

“Right, you’re all swimming in the tournament.”

Finally, they have the chance to speak to Rin. Internally, Nagisa thanks whichever deity let this happen, before saying, “Hey, Rin-chan. Have you seen Haru-chan?”

Rin doesn’t look at him when he replies, “Haru?” Nagisa can guess why.

“He hasn’t come back yet,” Nagisa explains.

Shockingly, Rin smirks. “Was losing to me that big of a shock? He’s the one who said that he didn’t care about winning or improving his time.”

Rei puts a hand to his chin. “He’s not upset about losing. There must be some other reason.”

“Huh?” Rin turns on Rei, an eyebrow raised. He raises his voice, as though trying to pick a fight. “What else matters in swimming other than winning?”

“There is more.”

Makoto’s voice cuts through the argument, unexpectedly cold from such a warm person.

They turn to him.

“At least, Haru thought there was something more.” Makoto’s eyes bore into Rin’s, imploring him to say otherwise. “That’s why he wanted to race you. And I’m pretty sure the one who taught him what that something was, was you, Rin.”

Rin’s eyes are wide, his eyebrows drawn in, horrified.

“When we swam in that relay in elementary school, you-”

“What do I care?!” Rin’s yell echoes through the hall, vicious. “I beat Haru! That’s all that matters.” With that, Rin stalks off, leaving them in the dust.

Instinctively, Nagisa reaches a hand out to stop him, but there’s nothing he can do. He and his friends stand in his wake, confused and worried. This is not the Rin they know.

“A relay?” Rei says. His face scrunches up with confusion and misunderstanding. “Did you guys swim a relay with him in the past?”

“We didn’t mention that?” Nagisa supposes with everything else going on, it’s slipped their minds.

“You only told me that things happened in the past. If you were that close, why are you-”

Nagisa waves his hands gently. “Now, now, Rei-chan, calm down. We need to look for Haru-chan now.”

“No, we should let him be.” Makoto smiles, though his eyes are filled with sadness. “Knowing Haru, he probably doesn’t want to talk to anyone right now. And we have our own races coming up. Let’s focus on what we can do right now.”

Nagisa and Rei look at him for a moment before agreeing. After all, Makoto knows Haru best, and he has the most common sense out of the three of them. Following his intuition, they return to the stands, trying to keep their minds off of Haru and what just happened with Rin.

But soon it’s Makoto’s turn to swim, and Nagisa can’t help but worry that Haru won’t get to see his teammates swimming. He tries to stop himself, but in the end, he stands.

“I’m gonna go get him! I want Haru-chan to watch us swim!” He runs off, ignoring the surprised cries of his benchmates, and heads for the halls once more.

As he runs, part of him wishes he had the stamina of Rockhopper without having to transform. His breath comes out heavy and every footstep is a drag, giving him one less second to find Haru. But he perseveres. There’s no way at this point Haru is going to come and watch them swim otherwise.

Finally, _finally_ , he finds Haru in an otherwise deserted corridor, sitting on a bench and staring at the ceiling, completely silent.

“Hey, Haru-chan!”

Haru looks over, brought out of his thoughts by Nagisa’s voice.

“There you are! Mako-chan’s race is about to start.” He stops by Haru’s side, bending over and panting from exertion. He barely manages to speak again. “Hurry up!”

Looking away, Haru says, “I’ll pass.”

A surge of frustration runs through Nagisa, and he grabs Haru’s hand. “I don’t think so! Let’s go!”

Dragging Haru behind him, he runs back towards the stands, not caring if Haru doesn’t feel like going to see their friends swim. He needs to see this, and Nagisa won’t let him pass up on it.

Makoto is already swimming by the time they get outside. Haru’s eyes widen as he watches his oldest friend swim, cheered on by the Iwatobi Cheering Squad of the swim team, Amakata, and Sasabe. He moves his head to watch Makoto as he reaches the farthest end and makes the tumble turn.

Satisfied, Nagisa smiles at Haru. There’s no way he’ll go back into solitude now. Nagisa returns to the bench to cheer with the rest of his team.

Despite his hard work, Makoto comes second, only nine milliseconds later than the first place winner. He does not advance to the finals.

Before Nagisa heads to the changing rooms for his own race, he notices Makoto look up and smile in Haru’s direction, and knows he’s done a good job.

Since he’s in an early heat, Nagisa’s race begins not long after the end of the backstroke races. He doesn’t think about much as he changes into his jammers. Everything will come to him on instinct during the race. Swimming is natural for him, after all.

One of the other swimmers stops him before he leaves the changing room. “Are you alright? Your face-”

“It’s fine,” Nagisa says. Trying to explain this to a stranger would be a challenge. “I just got hurt during a training camp. I’ll be fine to swim.”

“Yeah, but people are going to wonder-”

“It’ll be fine!” Nagisa tries not to let his words or smile seem forced. He knows that this person is just worried, but this isn’t the time to be worrying about the bruises on his face.

It isn’t long before Nagisa is on the starting block, fixing his goggles under his swimming cap. He pumps his fists to cheer himself on and crouches into position.

The race begins. He can see the other swimmers diving ahead of him, swimming ahead. Pushing himself to his limit, he swims faster than he can ever remember swimming. His turn is perfect, and the last spurt he knows goes well. He almost wins, but the swimmer in front of him just won’t let up.

Frustrated with himself, he tries to accept his loss. After all, he’s never won a major swimming competition, other than the relay and a few races in his elementary school team. It’s no surprise that here, the standards are higher. And especially considering that he hasn’t swam since elementary school, he’s done well. But he can’t help but feel sad he didn’t do better.

He returns to his team as quickly as he can.

“I couldn’t do it!” he says when he gets back.

Sasabe claps a hand on his shoulder. “It was close.”

“You made a huge push at the end,” Kou says.

Rei stands up and pushes his glasses up his nose. “Well, I believe it’s finally my turn.”

Frowning, Nagisa wonders if Rei can manage this. The standard is high, considering even Makoto and Haru couldn’t win their races. “Will you be okay, Rei-chan?”

“I’ve got this,” Rei says, pushing up his glasses again in that absurd fashion of his which looks both nerdy and charming at the same time. “Despite how I may look, I’m better in actual competition.”

Nagisa guesses his track competitions must have been indication of that, so he tries not to worry.

But then Rei begins to swim. He makes a perfect dive and his dolphin kick to the surface is textbook, but then his goggles begin to slip down his face. He slips to the back of the group, and no matter how much the team cheer him on, there’s no way they can combat the trouble caused by his goggles. He too fails to qualify for finals, and he returns to the bench dejected, his head hanging low.

“It’s okay, Rei-chan,” Nagisa says, trying to cheer him up. “You couldn’t help your goggles slipping down. They must have thrown you off.”

Rei nods, and they follow the rest of their team outside.

“I’m sorry,” he says when they regroup outside. “I wasn’t good enough.”

Amakata says, “You shouldn’t say that. You were able to swim a personal best. That’s a great thing.”

Nagisa brings back up what he said earlier. “You might have qualified if your goggles hadn’t slipped off.”

“That seems a little far-fetched,” Rei says with a sceptical glance at him.

“In any case,” Amakata says, “everybody performed well. Excellent work.”

“There’s a sense of accomplishment, right?” Nagisa says. After all, they were all able to have high enough times to qualify for the prefecturals at all. They all did well in their races and had better times than in all of their practises. That has to count for something.

“Yeah,” Makoto says. “Let’s start preparing for the next tournament.”

“Oh, where’s Nanase-kun?” Amakata says.

In truth, Nagisa hadn’t noticed Haru’s absence, considering he’s such a quiet person. The others seem as surprised as he does by the fact he isn’t with them.

“It looks like he left without us,” Nagisa says. He feels a little dissatisfied at that. Even though he convinced Haru to watch all of their races (and Nagisa saw Haru in the stands during his breastroke race, he knows he was still there), he couldn’t make him feel better. But he did what he could, and that’s what matters.

“What? Really?”

“Yeah, he wasn’t feeling well,” Makoto says. Nagisa wonders if Makoto must have spoken to him before they left.

“Oh. I guess that can’t be helped, then.” Amakata still looks quite concerned, but she doesn’t say anymore on the subject. “Matsuoka-san, can you take it from here?”

Kou nods. “Yes.”

“Then I’ll be leaving now.”

Amakata drives away in her little car, and Sasabe follows in his pizza bike.

When they’re alone, Nagisa puts his hands behind his back. “It’s over.”

“Yeah. It would have been nice to go to regionals,” Rei says.

“After we practised so hard, I was thinking at least one of us might make it through. But it’s not that easy in reality,” Makoto says.

“There’s more to swimming than I realised,” Rei says. “Understanding it in theory isn’t enough to win.” After a short pause, he adds, “I’m getting fired up.”

“Well, it’s a little late for that,” Nagisa says, though he understands how Rei feels.

Suddenly, Kou counteracts them. “No, it’s not too late.”

They all take their eyes away from the sunset, fixing them on Kou, who turns to face them.

“There’s still the second day of the tournament tomorrow.”

“But the events we entered were all today,” Nagisa says.

Makoto puts a hand on his chin. “The second day is the individual medley and the relay…” He gasps. “Kou-chan, don’t tell me that-”

Kou runs in front of them and puts her hands together in apology, screwing her eyes shut. “I’m sorry! I signed you up for the medley relay in secret!”

In unison, the three swimmers gasp. “What?!”

“I told Amakata-sensei about it,” she says, still looking down.

“So if we win the relay,” Nagisa says.

“We can go to regionals!” Kou finishes, looking up at him with an earnest expression.

“That’s crazy, this is too sudden,” Makoto reasons. “We didn’t practice at all for the relay.”

“Why didn’t you say something sooner?” Nagisa asks.

“Because it sounded like Haruka-senpai didn’t want to be in a relay.”

“Let’s do it.”

Rei’s words shock the other three, drawing the attention to him.

“Rei-chan?” Nagisa is surprised that Rei thinks they can do this, even without any practice. Especially considering that he’s the newbie swimmer who hasn’t swam in a relay before.

“This is our final chance. We haven’t practised for the relay, but it’s still worth a shot.”

The expression in Rei’s eyes, filled with a fire of determination, makes Nagisa’s heart skip a beat. He is filled with hope. After a quick look to Makoto to make sure he feels the same, he nods in agreement.

Now all they need to do is tell Haru.

Running, they reach the train station at a record speed. The next ten minutes are spent in agitation, waiting for the train to arrive. Luckily the journey is short, and it isn’t long before they’re tearing down the streets again, up the many steps towards Haru’s house. From the outside, none of the lights are on and the curtains are open.

“No luck, he isn’t home,” Rei says, stopping before the house. “I think.”

Makoto runs forward to the door and tries to slide it aside, but it is locked. Then he rushes around the corner of the house. “We can enter upstairs!”

“Got it!” Nagisa yells, running after him and hearing two pairs of footsteps following. This is a matter of urgency.

“Wait! Is this really alright?!”

They ignore Rei’s question and rush into the house. It sounds deserted. Nagisa runs to Haru’s bedroom, slamming the door open to find it empty, no sign of Haru having been in it since this morning. The other rooms on the floor are also empty.

“He’s not on the second floor!” he calls to the others.

A minute later, Kou calls, “He’s not in the bath!”

They all meet up downstairs, where Makoto and Rei had been searching.

“You shouldn’t run around someone’s house when they’re not…” Rei begins, but he cuts himself off upon noticing something.

Turning around, Nagisa notices Rei holding a familiar photograph. Before he can even begin to wonder why, Rei looks up.

“Let’s wait for him to return home.”

Looking down at the picture, all Nagisa can think is how different things are now to how they were back then. In the end, wasn’t it Rin who convinced Haru to swim the relay? Or was it a combination of all of them? He can’t remember, but he isn’t sure if they’ll be able to convince him this time. “Will Haru-chan agree to swim in the relay?”

Without another word, the three first years position themselves around the table, Makoto choosing instead to sit on the step outside. There isn’t much to do, and Nagisa feels antsy with worry. He doesn’t want to be just sitting around, but there isn’t much else they can do.

When nine o’clock rolls around, they are all more concerned.

“He’s still not home,” says Kou.

“Where’d he go?” Nagisa asks, a rhetorical question considering none of them know the answer.

“What if…” Rei trails off, looking down. His eyes are filled with sorrow, his eyebrows deeply creased. They can finish the sentence for themselves.

He can’t take it. Nagisa moves onto his shins, pushing his hands against the table. “Rei-chan, don’t say scary stuff with that look on your face!”

“I didn’t say anything yet,” Rei says. “But…”

“Don’t worry,” Makoto says, speaking for the first time in ages. “Haru’s not that weak.”

Somehow, Makoto’s words spark a connection in Nagisa’s mind, and he has an idea. “Oh, his cell phone! Let’s call him!”

“Haruka-senpai has a cell phone?!” Kou says.

“Why didn’t you say something sooner?” Rei says.

“Well, I never actually see Haru-chan use his phone…”

“Anyway, let’s call him!”

Nagisa finds Haru in his contacts and presses the call button. Almost immediately he is redirected to voicemail. “He’s not answering!”

“Leave a message,” Rei says.

The phone beeps.

“Haru-chan? where are you right now?”

Rei takes the phone. “Please hurry home. We’re all worried.”

He hands it over to Kou.

“I’m sorry, Haruka-senpai! I signed everybody up for the medley relay!”

“Yeah, so let’s swim together tomorrow, Haru-chan!” Nagisa says when he takes the phone back. Halfway through his words, Rei moves the phone over so he can speak into it.

“I’ll be fine! I’ll have the theory memorised by tomorrow!”

“Rei-chan, that’s a sure sign that you’ll fail!” Nagisa says, taking the phone back.

“I just have to memorise the theory on how not to fail also.”

_“Your message has ended.”_

They sit in silence, staring at the phone.

“Will Haruka-senpai come home after listening to that sloppy message?” Kou says, sounding unsure.

“It’ll be fine!” Nagisa tries to be positive, despite his own doubts. “Our chaotic message has what it takes to touch Haru-chan deep down!” Even as he says this, however, he notices a faint green light from the corner of the room and realises the most shocking part of this. “Haru-chan left his phone here!”

“What?!”

From outside, Makoto speaks calmly. “Haru usually doesn’t carry his phone around with him.”

The first years slump. Their brilliant plan to get Haru to join them tomorrow has failed. It looks like the relay tomorrow just won’t happen.

“It’s getting late,” Makoto says. “We should head home.”

“But…”

“I don’t think Haru will swim tomorrow.” Makoto’s eyes are full of regret and sadness as he speaks the words which no-one wanted to think. “We’ll have to forfeit.”

The rest of them don’t reply, hearts sinking, and for the rest of the night, their morale is low. Even on the train home, Rei and Nagisa don't speak, only exchanging a short goodbye before heading to their respective homes. Silently, Nagisa creeps into his house. Luckily his parents don’t hear him, and though he thinks he hears his sister’s bedroom door open, she doesn’t appear. Thanking the gods, Nagisa scavenges for some food in the kitchen and takes it up to his room, picking at it before collapsing into bed.

If only there was some way to make everything better. Swimming the relay feels like the only thing he can do for Haru to try and make him feel better after today’s fiasco. But if Haru won’t swim the relay, there’s nothing he can do.

Sighing, Nagisa puts an arm over his eyes, blocking out the world. If only everything was more simple. Then maybe they’d all live a happier life.


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The fated relay arrives, and afterwards, something unexpected.

The morning dawns bright and early. A shrill tune rouses Nagisa from the mess of his dreams. Half-asleep, he reaches for his phone, recognising the music as his ringtone. He paws at it for a second before grabbing it and pushing it to his ear.

“Yes, hello?”

A moment later, he shoots upright, all sleepiness gone.

“Haru-chan did? He’s going to swim?!”

Full of energy, he says goodbye to Makoto before jumping out of bed, trying to find all his swimming gear once more. Even though his hopes had been so low after their failure to find Haru last night, it seems that Makoto was able to convince him in the end. Nagisa jumps up and down in joy, then stops. He can’t wake his parents.

Now, though, he’ll be able to swim the relay with everyone again. Makoto, Haru, and now Rei as well. Rei’s a beginner, and he might struggle with the exchanges. But at this point, Nagisa feels like anything is possible.

Thinking about it, Nagisa doesn’t know if Rei knows yet. He puts down the towel in his hands and rakes round his room, trying to find his phone, only to find it on his bedside table. Cursing his forgetfulness, he dials Rei’s number and taps his foot, waiting for him to pick up.

“Hello?”

Rei’s voice sounds much more energetic than Nagisa’s did when he woke up.

“Rei-chan, did you hear?”

“About the relay?” In his voice, Rei’s excitement is evident. His tone is brighter, talking about the relay. “Yes, Makoto-senpai phoned me just now. I can hardly believe it.”

“Do you think you’ll be okay?” Nagisa says. “After all, you’ve not swam in a relay before, right?”

“I think I’ll be alright. Despite my lack of experience in relay technique, I’ve been learning the theories all night-”

“Rei-chan, don’t jinx yourself.”

“I’m not!”

Nagisa smiles. It’s good to hear Rei’s voice as lively as it is now. “Do you want to go to the school first? We can do some relay exchanges.”

“Will we have the time?”

Glancing at his clock, Nagisa sees that there’s still a few hours until the relay event begins. “I think so, yeah.”

“In that case, that’s a brilliant idea.”

“Great. I’ll see you soon, Rei-chan!”

Once the phone is down, it doesn’t take Nagisa long to finish packing. Grabbing a piece of toast, he runs to the _genkan_ , pulling his shoes onto his feet as quickly as he can. He’s ready to leave when he hears a muffled voice.

“What’re you doing up so early?”

He looks behind him, only to see his sister on the stairs, still in her pyjamas, her hair a mess around her head.

“We’re swimming in the relay race today,” he says through a bite of toast.

Nanako raises an eyebrow. “I thought you only had events yesterday?”

“We didn’t know we were doing relay until last night.”

Without a response, his sister begins to climb back up the stairs, obviously disinterested in his swim meet. Then, on the last step, she stops and speaks quietly. “Just don’t stay out late, okay?”

By the time Nagisa looks round to ask what she’s talking about, she’s gone.

The school is silent when they reach it. It feels as though they’re breaking in, though not as much as when they actually broke into Samezuka. After a quick change into jammers, Nagisa and Rei begin relay practice. Nagisa explains the basics of the exchange before they actually swim. With the two of them, practising exchanges is a breeze. Nagisa doesn’t critique Rei on his exchange, mostly since he can’t see it well from his position in the water. But he can tell Rei is improving with the accuracy and speed of his dive after Nagisa’s hands slap the wall.

Once they finish practice, they dry off before running for the train. By the time they reach the stadium, their friends are waiting anxiously for them. After explaining themselves, the group head together into the stadium once more, Kou and Amakata turning for the stands whilst the swimmers head to the changing rooms so they can get ready and warm up. They’ve missed the opening ceremony, but the races are about to begin.

Before Nagisa even realises it, they’re standing behind the starting block, the four of them lined up in order of stroke. At the head of the line, Makoto stands with his hands on his hips, gazing at the pool. As the backstroke swimmer, he’ll be heading the relay.

“Mako-chan, you can do this,” Nagisa says, hoping his friend doesn’t feel too nervous. He knows Makoto usually does well with competition, but the lack of practice might have made him more nervous.

Rei chips in. “Fight.”

“Yeah, wish me luck,” Makoto says, turning back to look at them with a serious expression. They all know how important this relay is.

The whistle blows. Makoto jumps into the pool, pulls himself into the underwater start position. Behind his goggles, his eyes are filled with determination.

“Set!”

He pulls himself against the wall.

“Go!”

The swimmers dive into the water, streaming through the dolphin kick into the backstroke itself. He pulls ahead of the other swimmers, giving them a good head start.

Nagisa clenches his fists and steps onto the starting block.

“Fight, Nagisa-kun.”

He doesn’t look back at Rei, but smiles nonetheless. “I will.”

Crouching so his hands touch the block, he waits for the moment to arrive. Makoto speeds closer, only metres away now-

His hands touch the wall.

“Nagisa!”

He dives.

_It’s a good dive_ , he thinks as he pulls into the single dolphin kick, heading for the surface. He tries not to focus on the swimmers around him as he pushes towards the wall, makes the turn, heads back. But he can feel them around him. It only gives him strength. He stretches his arms a little further, tries to reach a little farther. Finally, he reaches the wall.

“Rei-chan!”

Above him, a butterfly flies into the water. For a moment, he is transported back to that night on the rooftops, watching Rei fly over his head. Now, seeing him do it again, but without wings, he feels a surge of affection and pride. Rei has come so far in the past few months.

Nagisa pulls himself out of the pool so he can watch Rei’s performance. Even though his butterfly stroke isn’t the best, he still manages to keep a steady performance. His goggles don’t slip, and he swims with more speed than Nagisa has ever seen him swim with in practice.

After the turn, Rei is quick to return to the starting block, his hands slapping the wall.

“Haruka-senpai!”

Haru dives.

Immediately he is passing other swimmers, regaining their earlier position and pushing forward until they’re even further than before. He makes the turn, putting them in third place.

Filled with excitement, nerves and hope, Nagisa can’t help but push his fist in the air and cheer for his friend. “Haru-chan, go!”

He moves into second place. Then he’s dead even with the other swimmer. The three at the starting block cheer for their friend, their emotions running high.

Haru’s hand reaches the wall.

“We won!”

Nagisa’s heart bursts with happiness. They did it! They were able to win the relay heat! They’re advancing to regionals!

Makoto moves to the starting block, so he and Rei follow.

“Haru, that was amazing!” Makoto says, extending his hand to Haru.

“You did it, Haru-chan!”

“Haruka-senpai, that was truly inspiring!”

“Yeah! My heart was racing just watching it!” Nagisa says.

“Same here! Mine’s still racing!” Makoto says.

They find themselves laughing, their elation bubbling out from their lips.

Makoto pulls Haru out of the water. “We actually get to go to regionals.”

“Haru-chan, I love you!” Nagisa yells, jumping and latching on to Haru in a koala hug. Rei joins in, hugging Haru from the other side. Even though Haru complains about it, though, Nagisa can tell he’s happy deep down.

Eventually, they let go and return to the changing rooms after facing the glares of the staff at the pool.

 

* * *

 

 

After that, the happiness doesn’t die down. Going back to school the next day, the principal congratulates them in an assembly, and they find a banner attached to the side of the school. Nagisa and Rei both receive the congratulations of their classmates as soon as they walk in the door.

Despite their win, however, the walk to swim club that afternoon begins with confusion. There are only four of them, with Haru having wandered off somewhere. Nagisa can only hope it was to the pool and not home.

“Anyway,” he says, “we’ve achieved our objective of placing at a tournament, so they should give us a bigger budget. And we can use that budget to swim at the gym all the time!”

“Yep,” Makoto says with a smile.

“How can you say that?!” Kou says, frowning. “Weren’t you listening to the principal? Our next objective is to make it to nationals! Always aim high!” Kou stops in her tracks and points a finger at the sky.

Hope returns to Nagisa. If they’re going to aim higher, that means they might be able to get even further with this team. The idea of being able to swim with them again fills him with joy. “Okay! Let’s do our best and make it to nationals!”

“Yes!” Rei says, pushing his glasses up. “Fly…”

Together, the first years punch their fists into the air. “…High!”

“Fly high?”

“I’ll be the first one in the club room!” Nagisa says, already running in its direction.

“I don’t think so!” Kou says, running after him.

“You think you can beat a former track and field athlete?” Rei says as he catches up with them at an intimidating speed.

In the end, as fast as they run, Rei beats both Nagisa and Kou to the club room. Nagisa pays him back by tackling him when he reaches the room, making sure Rei knows that next time, he won’t lose so easily. For a moment, he swears Rei flushes at the contact, but he smiles and accepts the challenge anyway.

Once they’re all changed, the swimmers meet Kou outside the club room, where she informs them of the drills they’ll be practising today. She’s just finished saying that they should start with a warmup when they notice Haru haul himself out of the pool, breathing heavy.

“Haru!”

Nagisa smiles, glad that Haru didn’t go home on his own. “So you were already here.” When Kou goes to give a towel to Haru, he continues speaking. “Haru-chan’s really motivated.”

“Maybe he’s upset about losing at free,” Rei says.

His words make Nagisa’s heart sink, and he remembers that their relay might not have helped all that much. “Yeah, maybe.”

“I’m happy to see you so motivated,” Kou says, her voice carrying across to them.

“I’m not.” Haru slips the towel off of his hair, eyes looking down. “I was swimming because I didn’t know what to do. I figured I should ask the water about matters involving water.”

As usual, Haru’s cryptic words mean nothing to the majority of their group. Rei and Kou seem especially confused, whilst Nagisa knows this is just one of Haru’s quirks.

Makoto, equally used to this, ends the conversation and turns their attention back to training. But even he can’t answer the questions running through their minds, wondering how Haru feels, and if the relay helped at all.

It’s on their way home from practice that the subject comes up. At the train station, Nagisa overhears a conversation between a couple of younger kids about a local festival which is taking place tonight. As soon as he hears the word ‘festival’, an idea pops into his mind, and he turns to Rei.

“Rei-chan, did you hear that?”

“What?” Rei looks at him with furrowed brows. “Hear what?”

“What those kids were saying! About Hachiman-sama’s festival-”

“It’s rude to eavesdrop,” Rei interrupts, his face turning to one of disapproval.

Nagisa pouts. “That doesn’t matter, Rei-chan, what matters is the festival. What if we invite Haru-chan? We can try to take his mind off of prefecturals!”

After a moment of silence, Rei nods. “That’s actually not a bad idea. Some form of festivity might be able to distract Haruka-senpai for a while.”

“Exactly! Hold on, I’ll text Mako-chan to tell him.”

Whilst Nagisa sends the text, he hears Rei say, “I’ll need to decide what would be most appropriate to wear.”

“How about a yukata?” Nagisa says. A moment later, he regrets it as images flash in his brain of Rei looking very attractive in a yukata. He can feel the blood rush to his cheeks.

Unaware of Nagisa’s train of thoughts, Rei nods. “Yes, that sounds reasonable. I have a yukata in my wardrobe which should be perfect for the occasion. I take it that means you will also be wearing a yukata, Nagisa-kun?”

Shaking the images from his head, Nagisa smiles. “Of course! Every year I go to the festival, I wear a yukata. It fits with the atmosphere, doesn’t it?”

“I guess so,” Rei says. “Don’t forget to tie it properly.”

The advice sounds like something his mother would say. Nagisa can’t help but laugh. Beside him, Rei freaks out, telling him not to laugh, that he’s only trying to be helpful, but he ends up laughing a as well.

When the two boys reach the place where they separate, Nagisa can’t help but wink at Rei.

“I’m looking forward to seeing your beautiful yukata, Rei-chan!”

Once the words are out of his mouth, he turns and walks towards his home, feeling the warmth blossom in his cheeks, unaware that behind him, he has left his companion equally flustered.

 

* * *

 

Everything goes to plan as far as convincing Haru to join them is concerned. Nagisa, Makoto and Haru walk together to the site of the festival, where Rei is already waiting for them. When Nagisa catches sight of him, the images in his head return, though now updated with the black and purple yukata Rei is wearing. He somehow finds it tantalising how Rei’s collarbone shows in the gap in the yukata, something which feels odd considering how often Nagisa sees Rei half-naked at club practice. Perhaps it’s the thought of how easily he could pull the yukata aside-

Nagisa shakes the thought out of his head. This isn’t the time to be fantasising.

“Did you wait long?” Nagisa says when they reach Rei.

“No, I just got here.” Rei’s smile looks even more beautiful in the lantern-light nighttime. It feels as though he’s an option on a dating sim rather than a real person.

“Wow! Good one, Rei-chan! Mako-chan, Haru-chan, if you arrive early for a date, that’s what you have to say.” He says this information as though he’s been on tonnes of dates before, when in reality, part of him wishes this was a date.

(And the rest of him realises that this part of him is gaining control, and needs to be silenced. He can’t let this feeling grow any stronger.)

“Yeah, yeah,” Makoto says, though not in a condescending way. “Let’s go to the shrine first.”

They go to pay their respects at the shrine before turning to the festivals stalls, which are filled with one thing: squid. It’s a lot of different varieties of squid, but in essence, you can see why it’s called a squid festival. The stalls are filled with squid foods, and the events are wacky and greeted with crowds of smiling faces. The more Nagisa looks around the festival, the surer he is that this plan will succeed.

However, that thought goes away the moment Rei nudges him not too long later.

“What is it, Rei-chan?” Nagisa says, turning to Rei, only to see him looking in the opposite direction. He leans around Rei to see what he’s looking at.

In the crowd of people, a short grey-haired boy walks alongside a familiar red-head.

“Rin-chan?”

Nagisa and Rei duck down, huddling together with equal expressions of worry.

“Bad timing, right?” Rei says, his fan concealing the words to everyone except for Nagisa.

“Definitely,” Nagisa says.

“Is something wrong?” a voice behind them says, and they spring upright.

“Oh, we were just wondering how many bowls of squid we could eat!” Nagisa lies, flinching at how bad the lie is.

“You’re going to eat that much?” Haru says. His eyes turn to Nagisa’s right, looking into the crowd-

“Ah!” Nagisa jumps in front of Haru’s field of vision, arms stretched in the air. “Oh! I’ll go buy squid burgers for everyone!”

“How thoughtful of you, Nagisa-kun!” Rei says mechanically, and Nagisa flinches again.

“Hold on!” Nagisa scans the area, searching with his eyes for a safe spot. Finding it, he points towards it. “Can you wait at the rest area over there?”

“Uh, I don’t want one,” Makoto says, his words achingly polite, and Nagisa gapes at the interference.

“Er, but we do…” he says, looking from Haru to Makoto and hoping their cover hasn’t fallen quite to pieces. He throws in a few winks at Makoto, hoping he’ll understand.

Makoto blinks at him for a second before smiling and turning to Haru. “Well, let’s go Haru. We need to find space for all four of us.”

“Okay.”

The two walk towards the rest area.

Relief floods through Nagisa. He feels Rei deflate beside him, his robotic posture relaxing. The two of them sigh before reforming their huddle. That was more trouble than they had bargained for.

“It’s possible that Rin-chan and Haru-chan will run into each other,” Nagisa says.

“Definitely.”

Nagisa looks up at Rei. “What if Haru-chan ditches the relay at regionals?”

“That would be the worst-case scenario,” Rei says, though he looks doubtful.

“We have to make sure they don’t meet.” Nagisa puts a hand to his chin, thinking of the possible ways in which they could make sure nothing of the sort happens. Then an idea hits him. He puts a hand on Rei’s shoulder. “Rei-chan. You follow Rin-chan.”

“What?!”

“You tell me where Rin-chan is. Then we can lead Haru-chan somewhere else!”

Rei’s face deadpans. “Nagisa-kun, you seem to be enjoying this…”

“Okay!” Nagisa stands up, pointing to the sky. “Go forth, detective Rei-chan!”

Reluctantly, Rei agrees, and the two separate.

Nagisa is halfway to the rest area when he remembers his own words, so he quickly buys a bunch of squid-related food and takes it to the rest area, the only area which he knows to be safe currently. Haru and Makoto look at the assortment with hesitation. Nagisa happily eats a squid kebab, satisfied with the current situation.

“Where’s Rei?” Makoto asks after getting over his shock.

“Ah, er, he ran into an acquaintance, and they’re walking around the festival together.”

With the way Haru looks at him and turns away, Nagisa isn’t convinced his lies are working. Haru suddenly stands.

“I’ll go buy drinks.”

“Ah, you stay here, Haru-chan!” Nagisa can see the surprise in Haru’s eyes and feels bad for lying. “I’ll go.”

“Then I’ll go with you,” Makoto says. “It might be more than you can carry by yourself.”

“Haru-chan, you wait here.” Placing his kebab into Haru’s hand, he leaves with Makoto, though not without noticing the total confusion on Haru’s face.

Though it seems Makoto is less confused.

“So what’s going on?” he asks as Nagisa scoops their drinks out of the vending machine.

“Well, Rin-chan’s here at the festival,” Nagisa explains. “So Rei-chan’s following him right now.”

“Eh?!” Makoto’s eyes widen. “You’re making Rei stalk Rin…”

“It’s for Haru-chan’s sake,” Nagisa says, in the hopes that Makoto will understand. “Rei-chan knows what he’s doing, don’t worry!”

Still, he can tell that Makoto is worrying even as they make their way back to Haru, drinks in hand.

They don’t stay at the rest area for much longer, having finished the majority of their food. Instead they set off into the crowd once more. Nagisa scans the area for distractions, something which can take up a little more time until he gets a report from Rei. For a second, he swears he sees a familiar pair of eyes in the crowd. When he blinks, they’re gone.

“Nagisa, are you okay?” Haru says.

Internally, Nagisa curses. He didn’t want Haru to notice anything was wrong. “A-ah, it’s nothing! Hey, why don’t we try out that stall over there!” He points to a shooting game.

The others shrug and agree, and they troop over to the stall. Both Nagisa and Haru take up a toy gun, with Makoto watching them as they aim for their chosen prizes. Stretching his arm out, Nagisa shoots for a games console, but the chime of his phone distracts him. He misses. He hands the gun to Makoto and takes out his phone, excited to see a text from Rei.

「The target is currently walking through the stalls by the beach and heading for the main road, over.」

Images of Rei posing whilst saying these words go through Nagisa’s head as he reads the text, and he can’t help but smile as he replies.

After then struggling to keep Haru away from the convenience store on the main road, the three move on to the ball catching stall. Other than them, there are a few kids playing the game, struggling to catch any balls. Makoto too is unsuccessful, though Haru catches three easily.

“It’s easier if you don’t try as hard,” Nagisa says, “just like in real life.”

Makoto laughs. “Is that right? Well, sometimes it doesn’t work unless you try hard.”

Their conversation is interrupted by Nagisa’s phone, and he quickly replies to the text before turning to Makoto. “Rin-chan’s in the park in the third district.”

“That leads to our elementary school,” Makoto says, frowning. “Why would he want to go there?”

Nagisa shrugs, knowing only what Rei has told him.

Next they go to a stall which sells candy apples. It’s been a while since Rei last texted, and Nagisa is getting worried, so he trusts Makoto to keep Haru occupied while he sends a quick text to Rei.

「Where are you now?」

「Iwatobi Elementary School.」

“I thought so,” Nagisa says quietly. Another text comes through.

「But I lost sight of him…」

“Eh? Then Rin-chan could still be-”

“What are you up to?”

Nagisa jumps at the sound of Haru’s voice from behind him. For a second, he racks his brain for another lie, but at this point, he knows there’s he's been caught. He fills Haru in on everything that has happened.

“Rin is here?” Haru says after Nagisa is finished.

Nagisa nods.

“I see.”

The tone of his voice shatters Nagisa, and he worries that Haru finding out has ruined their plans. Then Haru speaks again.

“It’s okay. Tell Rei to come back.”

This time, his tone is lighter, and Nagisa finds himself smiling, hopeful that maybe all isn’t lost after all. He looks to Makoto, who is smiling at him, then back to Haru.

“I’ll go get Rei-chan, then.” With that he runs into the crowd, slowed down by his _geta_ , which clink across the ground. He knows there’s no rush to find Rei, but he still wants to be quick so Rei doesn’t go too far.

He heads to the main road, in the direction of the elementary school, walking as quickly as he can in these restricting shoes. He’s sure he sees a blob of blue hair in the distance, and is about to wave to it when he bumps into someone. Next thing he knows, he’s fallen to the ground, a few things from his pockets scattered around him.

“Sorry!” he says to the person, kneeling to pick up his belongings.

The person kneels down beside him and reaches for something - the bracelet. Ever since the training camp, Nagisa has taken to keeping it with him, just in case. He tries to grab it before the person does, but they swat his hand away.

“Why do you have this?”

That voice… Nagisa looks up, meeting the eyes of his sister, which glare down at him.

“Nee-chan!”

“What are you doing with this?” She repeats her words, anger flooding into the consonants, spitting them at him.

Nagisa feels only a rush of confusion, wondering why his sister is here when she didn’t say anything about the festival - and come to think of it, why is she alone, wearing normal clothes instead of her own festival yukata?

“It’s none of your business,” Nagisa says, grabbing for the bracelet only for Nanako to hold it out of his reach. “What are you doing here?”

“None of your business,” she retorts, standing with the bracelet in hand.

“Wait, so is that your bracelet?” Nagisa stands up too, annoyed to find that she is still taller than him.

Nanako only scowls and pockets the bracelet before turning away. “I told you not to stay out too late, so don’t, idiot.”

She walks away, leaving her confused brother in her wake, ideas forming in his head by the second.

_What if…?_


	18. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Revelations, questions, and confrontations.

_What if Nanako has something to do with the lighthouse?_

It makes sense, at least in Nagisa’s head. It's possible that she went to the lighthouse on that fateful night last year, or at some point during the rest of the time they were on holiday there. And surely that reaction to the bracelet was not one of someone who didn’t know where they had lost it. But if Nanako went to the lighthouse too, then it’s possible she also-

“Nagisa-kun!”

His train of thought is interrupted by Rei, who approaches with furrowed brows and eyes filled with concern.

“Ah, Rei-chan,” Nagisa says, trying to pretend he’s fine despite his revelations. “I was looking for you.”

“Who was that just now?” Rei says. “Did she take something from you?” The way he presses his words surprises Nagisa, and then he remembers that from Rei’s perspective, it might have looked like he was mugged.

Nagisa smiles weakly. “That was my sister Nanako. She took the bracelet.”

The relief that shows upon hearing it’s his sister disappears when Rei hears the latter part of the statement.

“The bracelet? The one we found in the lighthouse?”

“Yeah. She has one that looks like it.”

Rei frowns. Nagisa can tell that he is going through the same thought process that Nagisa has been through. “You don’t think…”

“I hope not,” Nagisa says. From the start, he has never wanted his family involved in this. To hear that his sister might be a part of it, though… Even though they don’t get on all that well, he can’t bear to think of her being hurt. “Come to think of it, she’s been acting weird recently. Especially when she saw my bruises after training camp.”

“We can only hope that she isn’t involved,” Rei says. “But I’m afraid that might not be the case.”

The two stand in silence for a minute longer, their minds racing with questions, longing for answers, before Nagisa remembers.

“Oh! We need to find Mako-chan and Haru-chan!”

Rei blinks, brought out of his thoughts, and nods. “Okay. Lead the way, Nagisa-kun.”

 

* * *

 

 

Even though they are distracted for the rest of the evening by the pleasant surprise of hearing Haru tell them he wants to swim with them, neither Nagisa or Rei can forget what happened earlier with Nanako. When they reach the crossroads between their homes, they both know that Nagisa will have to speak to Nanako again after this.

“Hey, maybe I was wrong,” Nagisa says with a forced laugh, trying to lighten the atmosphere. “Maybe the bracelet somehow found its way into my pocket before I went to the lighthouse that night, and it fell out when we fainted.”

“You were wearing jammers,” Rei says. “But I admire your positivity.”

Nagisa sighs. “I don’t want her to be involved. I don’t want her to get hurt, and if there’s a possibility that she’s a bad person-”

“I doubt that.” Rei puts his hands on Nagisa’s shoulders. His touch is light but it still makes Nagisa’s heart miss a beat. “Anyone related to you can’t be a bad person.”

“Rei-chan…” Nagisa’s eyes are glued to Rei’s. He can feel them tingling with emotion. “Thank you. You’re right. I shouldn’t worry.”

“Good.” Rei releases Nagisa. “If anything happens, though, let me know.”

Nagisa nods. “I will.”

With a final ‘goodnight’, they part, heading for their respective homes. Nagisa slips into his house as quietly as he can, taking his _geta_ off at the door and creeping up the stairs with them in his hand. Luckily, there’s no need for him to be so quiet, since he encounters no one on his way to his room, and upon passing his sister’s room, finds it empty. When he gets to his room, he throws his shoes to the floor and falls onto his bed, his mind wide awake.

If his sister is involved with this superhero business, then it’s possible that she’s known for longer than Nagisa about it. Or perhaps she found out after him, which would explain why it’s only recently that she’s been acting strangely. If she is involved, then it’s unlikely she doesn’t know at this point. Nagisa has a fair clue as to the identity of his sister’s alter-ego, though he’d rather not believe it.

And if she has been affected, and that thug has also gained powers, then there must be something about that lighthouse which is causing this to happen. Even though only Nagisa and Rei turned the switch on, more people have been affected by it. Which means that the event which gave them the powers might not have been them turning on the switch.

But does that mean they’ll have these powers forever? For Nagisa, the idea is like a dream. If only he could have these powers forever, able to jump from building to building, feeling the night air against his cheeks, his hair refreshed by the wind. And of course, if that means Rei would also have his powers forever, that would make him doubly happy. But if that meant his sister and that thug would have powers forever, then Nagisa isn’t so sure. The gang leader especially doesn’t deserve something as amazing as this. Not when he’ll only use it to cause pain.

Is there a way for them to stop that, though? If they could stop the gang leader from having powers, and maybe do the same for Nanako, then things would be better. But it’s unlikely that they’ll be able to find a way which doesn’t end up with them sacrificing their own powers.

Nagisa sighs. His eyes find their way to his mark, dull at the moment. He’s only known about his powers for a few months, and yet he can’t imagine not having them. They are such a huge part of him now. Rockhopper is part of him. Can he let that go so easily?

Not having powers. Not being able to explore as much as he likes, to climb to the tallest heights. Not being able to watch Rei fly again.

Can he strip Rei of his flight?

No. They have to find a way to stop this which doesn’t affect them. The people who have powers should use them for good, not for evil. At the very least, if they can make the gang leader lose his powers, then safety should be restored, right?

 

* * *

 

 

At least, that’s the idea Nagisa entertains himself with until he goes downstairs the next morning.

For once, he’s up earlier than he needs to be, so he goes to make himself some breakfast, happening to look over to where someone has left the TV on. A monotone voice blares from the set, projected over images of a familiar landscape.

_“The island has been cordoned off to the public for the moment, and all produce found in this area has been discontinued until the source of this distress is gone. We advise all those who have eaten at a restaurant within the area to see a doctor as soon as possible, especially if they have eaten fish.”_

An overhead shot of the affected area appears, and Nagisa immediately recognises the tall spire of a lighthouse, facing the shore of a familiar beach.

“That’s Sukishima!”

Abandoning his breakfast, he moves closer to the TV, intent on hearing every word of the report.

_“We have heard from a local source that many other odd events have been reported here within the past year. In particular, the lighthouse on Sukishima island seems to be a central point of interest, with lights having appeared in the building both last summer and this year, though no one was recorded to have been on the island at the time.”_

On the TV, professionals analyse the plantlife from behind a barrier set up around the shore of Sukishima. The reporter speaks over them, giving eyewitness reports about the lights, something which Nagisa is an expert on. After all, he and Rei caused them in the first place.

_"In other news, a convicted criminal has escaped prison..."_

Not paying attention, Nagisa pulls out his phone and dials. His mind races.

“Hello?”

“Rei-chan, did you see the news just now?”

“Huh? Nagisa-kun?” Rei’s voice sounds somewhat sleepy, and Nagisa has to double check that he didn’t accidentally wake up earlier than he’d thought. “No, I haven’t seen it. What happened?”

Nagisa relays the details of the news story to Rei.

“So it’s getting worse,” Rei says when Nagisa is finished. “If the cause of this is what I think it is…”

“Then we have to do something about it.” Nagisa’s words are firm. “We can’t let people get hurt. What if there’s another mutant bird? Or if the people can’t catch fish there anymore?”

“But what are we supposed to do? It’s not like we know what’s contaminating the fish or mutating the animals-”

“Rei-chan, we do know. It has to be the lighthouse, right? This all only happened after we turned on the switch.”

For a moment, Rei is silent. Nagisa expects him to disagree with him, but is suprised when he doesn’t.

“I suppose that would make sense. The energy from the lighthouse could have travelled through the plant life in a similar way to pollination, and that would give it time to enter the birth cycle of the animals on the island at the time.” Rei trails off for a moment. Nagisa can see the cogs spinning in his head. “What are we supposed to do, then? We still don’t have sufficient information about the exact cause-”

“So we go to the lighthouse.” To Nagisa, the answer seems obvious. “That way you can get evidence firsthand.”

“And how do you propose we get there? And when? As urgent as this is, we can’t leave right now and go to Sukishima. We don’t have a means of transportation and we are still busy preparing for regionals.”

As right as Rei is, Nagisa is still disappointed by the words. It would have been so cool if they could have gone to the island to investigate, as though they were detectives from some crime show on TV.

“Besides,” Rei continues, “they’ve cordoned off the island. The measures they’ve taken will prevent the situation from getting much worse.”

Despite himself, Nagisa agrees and bids his goodbyes to Rei before hanging up. He knows that Rei is right. The situation shouldn’t get much worse, and so long as they can keep the gang leader under control, there shouldn’t be any more trouble.

But still, Nagisa can’t help but wish the situation was a little more exciting.

 

* * *

 

 

Luckily, swim practice distracts him for most of the time after that. With Sasabe having agreed to help coach them in his spare time, they end up training harder than ever to improve their strokes and relay technique. At one point, he even brings in cameras which allow them to watch their swimming back to see how they can improve. Haru in particular is surprisingly proactive, watching his own stroke and making changes to improve quickly.

On one such occasion, Nagisa looks to Rei, only to see him frowning.

“What’s wrong, Rei-chan?”

“His form is perfect now,” Rei says, “but this isn’t the way I like to see Haruka-senpai swim. It was more beautiful before.”

At the time, Nagisa doesn’t really understand what Rei means. To him, Haru’s swimming always looks natural and beautiful. But he can tell that whatever it is, it’s eating away at Rei, giving him more grief by the day. Even on the train home one evening, he comments on how he doesn’t understand Rin suddenly joining the relay, and how everyone is motivated by this. Nagisa writes it off mentally as Rei not understanding because he didn’t experience the relay they had together when they were children, but he can’t help but worry.

That’s why he thinks things are sorted after they explain their past to Rei after the hotpot they share at Sasabe’s house. Though the tale which Haru tells about his middle school race with Rin surprises even Nagisa, the only one apart from Rei who hadn’t heard this before, most of the information is familiar. It’s the best way they can describe their past with Rin, and he hopes it will help Rei to understand.

But the silence between them whey wait for the train that evening proves otherwise.

“There’s no point in thinking about it,” Nagisa says. “It’s all in the past. And we don’t plan on getting you involved, so don’t worry.”

Suddenly Rei stands, anger fueling his words. “How can you say that when I’m already involved?!”

Nagisa can only sit in silence, watching with wide eyes as Rei sits back down, silent. He didn’t expect for Rei to take this to heart so much. In his head, he tries to find the words to apologise properly, to explain that he doesn’t want the past to be so much of a big deal, especially when they should be focusing on the present. Before he can think of anything, Rei speaks.

“I’m going to see him.”

“Eh?”

Rei’s eyes are fixed on the tracks in front of them, his fists clenched. “I’m going to see him tomorrow after school.”

Part of Nagisa wants to argue, to tell him not to go, but at this point, he knows he can’t stop Rei. This is something he’s determined to do, and there’s no way Nagisa will be able to convince him otherwise.

 

* * *

 

 

“What?! Rei’s not practising?!”

The absence of Rei at practice is felt strongly the next day.

“That’s unusual,” Makoto says, eyes filled with concern.

Nagisa is silent for a second before remembering that he needs to cover for Rei. “Ah! Maybe the strawberry milk ice cream I gave him yesterday was spoiled!”

“Then why did you give it to him?!” Kou says.

“I don’t think ice cream can spoil,” Sasabe says, ruining Nagisa’s excuse.

“But if he ate something spoiled,” Makoto says, trailing off.

“Mackerel?!”

“I didn’t give him anything.” Haru looks uninterested with the conversation.

Luckily, Nagisa doesn’t have to think of another excuse. Sasabe turns the conversation to practice, and they begin to train without Rei.

 

* * *

 

 

When Rei reaches the Samezuka pool, his mind is set on one thing - getting answers. He has no worries about meeting Rin. The fact that he’s an outsider shouldn’t matter either, since he’s only visiting and not - god forbid - breaking and entering. He is prepared for whatever might happen during this meeting. And he is sure everything will go according to plan.

When Rin steps out of the building, Rei reveals himself, stepping out from his position against the wall.

“You’re Rin-chan-san, yes?”

Rin’s eyes widen for a second before returning to the narrowed look they usually hold. “It’s you.”

“I need to talk to you.” He puts his bag down against the wall, aware that his shoulder will get tired if he holds it for too long on one rather than both.

“So, what do you want?”

“I have two questions for you. My first question is, why did you suddenly decide to swim in the relay?”

For a second, Rei is sure he hears Rin gulp.

“I changed my mind. You came out here to ask me that?”

“That answer does not convince me. You’ve been fixated on racing Haruka-senpai all this time. Your reason was that you couldn’t move forward until you defeated him. And in the last tournament, you beat him. Doesn’t that mean you’ve achieved your goal?”

“My goal isn’t to beat Haru. And it’s not to win tournaments in this country. I aim higher. My goal is the world.”

“The world?” Rei accepts the answer. He supposes one needs experience in all types of races to get to such a high level. “Very well. Moving on to my second question. How do you feel about Haruka-senpai?”

“Huh?”

“In elementary school, you and Haruka-senpai were close rivals. I saw old pictures of you when we were at Coach Sasabe’s house. You used to smile all the time. With Haruka-senpai, Makoto-senpai, and Nagisa-kun…”

Rin flinches. He isn’t sure if it’s at the mention of his old friends or something else.

“The four of you were always together and having fun,” Rei continues. “So what made you change after going to study abroad? Why didn’t you contact Haruka-senpai or any of the others after you returned to Japan? What happened while you were abroad? You used to be good friends, so why? You swam in a relay together, so why? You must have been thrilled about swimming in a relay with them. Aren’t you the one who understands more than anyone how great that relay was?”

“Shut up!” Rin lunges forward, his teeth bared in anger. “I let you talk, and you think you can spout all the stupid logic you want?! Why do I have to explain myself to you?!”

Rei pushes his glasses up, trying not to seem fazed by Rin’s attitude. “Because I am a victim. I was originally on the track team, but ended up joining the swim club. After watching Haruka-senpai swim, I wanted to swim like him. Practice was hard at first, but it started to grow on me. Eventually I was having fun swimming with everyone. At prefecturals, I finally swam in a relay with them. That was the first time I really understood relays as more than just a theory. I realised how fun they could be!” He puts a hand to his heart. “I can still remember how it felt. We were finally united as one! We felt like a real team! But they all keep talking about you! Rin-chan, Rin-chan, Rin-chan!”

“That’s not my problem!”

“Like hell it’s not!” Unable to control his anger, Rei surges forth, grabbing Rin by the collar and pushing him against the wall, forcing him to hear his words. “It’s your fault that Haruka-senpai stopped swimming!”

“Huh?! What are you talking about?!”

“Haruka-senpai felt guilty for beating you in middle school! So why are you people acting this way! I don’t get it! You beat Haruka-senpai in your last race! Isn’t that enough?! Why are you swimming in the relay now?! What do you want to do?! What do you want from Haruka-senpai?! What will it take to satisfy you?!”

For a moment they are both silent, Rin taken aback by Rei’s words. Rei is also silent, waiting for his response.

Rin bares his teeth and speaks, his voice quiet but laced with anger. “What about you? You weren’t involved in any of this, so why are you giving me all this grief?!”

Rei’s mark burns as Rin grabs his wrists, pushing him away before grabbing his collar.

“What do you want to do?!”

Though his wrist burns at the provocation, he ignores it, knowing this can be solved with words alone. “I want us to become the best team at a tournament. I want to swim as a member of that team. That’s all I want.”

Rin gasps, eyes wide. Slowly, he lets go of Rei’s collar, lets his hand drop to his side, limp. Taking advantage of the chance, Rei returns to where he was standing before and hauls his bag onto one shoulder. When he looks back, Rin is still in the same position as before.

“If you interfere, I’ll never forgive you.” Even as Rei speaks the words, he is sure Rin will not retort. The shock on his face is enough to prove that. He begins to walk away, intent on catching the next train home so he doesn’t have to face Nagisa when he boards the train after practice.

“Wait,” Rin says suddenly, stopping Rei in his tracks.

Rei turns around. Rin is still looking at the ground, in the same position as before. “Yes?”

“Your wrist.”

On impulse, Rei glances at it, sees that it is glowing faintly. It must have been brighter earlier, when it burned. Even though it’s mostly hidden by his wristwatch, he’s sure the mark must have been visible enough. “What about it?”

Rin doesn’t speak for a moment, and Rei contemplates leaving. But then he speaks.

“Tell Nagisa to be careful.”

The words shock Rei more than anything else Rin has said today, especially combined with the statement which came before it. However, Rin doesn’t offer any further explanation, instead stalking away around the corner of the building.

Rei has no choice but to leave, a bitter sense of concern hanging on his tongue.

 

* * *

 

 

Throughout practice, they are able to keep their minds off of Rei, but as soon as they have a minute to think, it returns to their minds.

“Is Rei okay?” Makoto says, pulling off his legskins so he can change back into his uniform.

“I think he’ll be fine,” Nagisa says. Even though he knows the truth as to where Rei is, he still feels positive. Rei is a strong person. He won’t get discouraged by whatever Rin has to say. Still, there is a feeling of doubt which remains. “But I’m a little worried.”

“Damn that Rei,” Sasabe says from behind them, where he sits on a chair facing the opposite wall. “Doesn’t he realise that an athlete needs to take care of his health? Hey, you guys go check on him.” He turns around, holding a 1000 yen note out to them.

Nagisa was planning on visiting Rei anyway to ask how his encounter with Rin went, so going with Makoto and Haru doesn’t bother him. The three head first to the market to get him a gift, as is customary when visiting someone who’s ill.

“What kind of gift should we get him?” Makoto says as they pass a fruit stall.

“We should definitely get him a melon!” Nagisa says, his eyes feasting on an impressive melon which costs an even more impressive 6000 yen.

“There won’t be any under 1000 yen,” Makoto says.

“Do we go with strawberries then?”

“Wasn’t it strawberry milk ice cream which made him sick?” Haru’s words strike Nagisa by surprise, and he remembers his own excuse from earlier.

“Oh, that’s right! How about bananas?”

“Should we even be bringing food if he has an upset stomach?” Makoto says.

“Are you sure it was something he ate? Or was it what I said yesterday bothering him?”

The frankness of Haru’s words stuns Nagisa, and he can’t find any more excuses. Though he tried to avoid it, he ends up telling them the truth.

They still end up going to visit Rei. In fact, now it feels even more necessary, since before it was only a pity visit. For a moment, when he rings the doorbell, Nagisa is worried that Rei won’t be back yet, but his worry is extinguished when a familiar pair of red glasses appear behind the door.

“Hi, Rei-chan!”

Though he seems surprised, Rei lets them in. Nagisa doesn’t miss the searching look he gives him, though it only lasts a second. He tries not to dwell on it.

“We came to visit you,” Nagisa says, immediately finding the bed and sprawling out on it.

“Why is everyone here?” Rei asks.

“You didn’t show up to practice today, so we came to see you.” Makoto smiles and lifts the carrier bag containing their gift.

“Oh, I was-”

“Ah, it looks like you’re gonna be just fine!” Nagisa interrupts Rei. Somehow, he thinks starting with that subject won’t be a good idea. “Kou-chan and Ama-chan were worried too. Goro-chan was worried you weren’t taking care of yourself with a tournament coming up.”

“Everybody was worried about me?”

Nagisa is surprised by the tone of Rei’s voice, one which sounds like he didn’t expect his friends to worry about him. Then again, it’s been obvious to Nagisa that Rei hasn’t felt much like a member of the team recently.

“Of course,” Haru says.

“It was the first time you’ve missed practice,” Makoto says. “It’d be one thing if Nagisa missed…”

“Hey, what’s that supposed to mean?!”

Makoto laughs and apologises before changing the subject to the trophies on the case. They sit down in front of the trophies to look at them, and Nagisa points out the books on the case beside the trophies, many of which are swimming-related. Now he looks at them, he can tell how many hours Rei has put into learning how to swim. It fills him with a sense of pride, to see how far Rei has come from when they first met.

Finally, the subject crops up. Haru is the one to bring it up.

“Rei, did you really go to see Rin?”

Guilt creeps through Nagisa, and he turns to Rei. “I told them everything. Sorry, Rei-chan.”

Despite his expectations, Rei smiles. “It’s okay. Yes, I did.”

“Was it because I told you about our past?” Haru asks.

“No, I had my own reasons for wanting to meet Rin-san. But it’s okay now. I’m done worrying about him. It’s not my problem.”

Nagisa finds himself just as surprised as the others at these words, but he smiles too. Finally, Rei seems happy.

“Okay.” Haru looks at Rei with a rare smile. “The four of us are a team now, Rei.”

“Yep, we need you to contribute to the team,” Makoto says.

“That’s right!” Nagisa says. “Every member is irreplaceable, Rei-chan!”

Rei’s smile brightens, and he replies with an impassioned, “Yes!”

The rest of their visit is cheerful, with them sharing the melon bread they brought alongside some barley tea from Rei’s fridge. They don’t stay too long, so as not to disturb Rei too much. On the way out, however, Rei stops Nagisa.

“Can I speak to you for a second, Nagisa-kun?”

Nagisa blinks and nods. He says a quick goodbye to Makoto and Haru before sitting back down beside Rei. “What is it you need to talk to me about, Rei-chan?”

“When I went to see Rin-san,” Rei says, “he asked me to pass on a message to you.”

Nagisa feels his eyes widen. Rin hasn’t spoken a word to him since that night at the swimming pool, hasn’t even looked at him, and yet he’s passed on a message for him?

“He told me to tell you to be careful.” Rei looks down. “He didn’t explain what he meant by that. The only thing which half-explained it was that he said it after saying something about my wrist.”

“What?” Nagisa can hardly believe it. The message is so cryptic, could have so many hidden meanings behind it. Rin wants him to be careful, but why? “What does he mean?”

“I’m not sure,” Rei says, looking back into Nagisa’s eyes with a serious expression. “But I imagine he knows something might happen. And that something can’t be good.”


	19. Chapter 19

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> His last thought before everything goes dark is how sore his wrist is.

After that, Nagisa stays at Rei’s house a while longer. He plays on his phone while the younger boy studies. Even though he tries to look nonchalant, he can’t help the worried thoughts which run through his head. If Rin is telling him to keep safe, then that means the others might be in danger too, right? Especially Rei, if it is to do with their marks. Rei is the same as him, which means people might target him too.

The idea that someone might come after them is somehow both not a bother and quite worrying. He knows his powers are strong enough that he can last a while in a fight, and with Rei at his side he isn’t worried. But if Rin thinks this is bad enough to break his years-long silence and pass on a warning about it, then he should take this matter more seriously. There’s always the possibility that this new threat is more dangerous than Nagisa thinks it is.

There’s also a possibility that Rin’s words are a mere warning without any context. He could be speaking in general. Or he noticed the weird things on the news, too. But somehow that doesn't seem likely.

He tries not to let his worry show. As much as he would love to sigh and frown, he keeps his face neutral, distracting himself with a game on his phone. After a while, he turns to watch Rei for a while, his hand gliding across the paper, inking neat notes onto the page. Rei’s eyes flick between the paper and the book he’s taking notes from. Even though he has a guest over, he isn’t distracted at all.

But eventually, it’s too late for Nagisa to have any more excuses to stay at Rei’s flat. As much as he would love to stay the night, he isn’t sure Rei would appreciate him barging his way in like this. His parents will also get worried if he doesn’t return home soon. The motion of him standing catches Rei’s eye, and he puts his pen down.

“Is something wrong, Nagisa-kun?”

Nagisa stretches, arms reaching for the sky. “I was just thinking I should go home, that’s all.”

“Oh.” Is it Nagisa’s hearing, or does Rei sound dejected? He turns to look at his friend, but any disappointment which might have been on his face is gone, replaced by a smile. “Okay. I’ll walk you to the door.”

At the _genkan_ , Nagisa shoves his shoes onto his feet, conscious of Rei watching him from behind. He tries to be quick. When he stands, he collides with Rei, who grabs his arms by reflex. A moment later he lets go and takes a step back. Nagisa turns to face him and tries not to be disappointed that he let go so quickly.

“Ah, sorry, Rei-chan,” Nagisa says with a laugh, scratching the back of his neck. “I didn’t realise you were right behind me.”

“That’s quite alright,” Rei says, pushing his glasses up his nose. “Are you alright?” His eyebrows are drawn close together, and Nagisa can tell he isn’t asking about the trip.

Nagisa nods. “You don’t have to worry about me, Rei-chan. I’m pretty strong.”

“I know.” The words don’t seem to give Rei much comfort, though. He’s still frowning as he opens the door for Nagisa and follows him outside, propping the door open with his foot.

The night air is cooler than usual, touched with a gentle breeze. Nagisa’s hair brushes along his forehead, moving out of place.

On instinct, Rei reaches out and moves Nagisa’s fringe out of his eyes. His touch is barely present, and yet it sends shivers down Nagisa's spine. On the way to take his hand back, Rei’s hand brushes against one of the bruises.

“I don’t want you to get hurt again.” Rei’s voice is tender, only loud enough for the two of them to hear.

“I won’t,” Nagisa says, reaching for Rei’s hand and grasping it. He's surprised by its softness. “I’ll be careful, I promise.”

“Nagisa-kun…”

“Besides,” Nagisa lets his voice become louder now, grinning. “I’ll always have Rockhopper to help out if something bad happens.”

Rei smiles and looks down. “I know.”

Nagisa feels himself soften. With a pang of regret, he releases Rei’s hand and takes a step back. “I should go now.”

“Okay.” Rei’s hand hangs in the air for a second before dropping to his side. “Text me as soon as you get home.”

Part of Nagisa melts at how worried Rei must be to want to hear from him even though he lives only five minutes away. “I will. Goodnight, Rei-chan.”

“Goodnight, Nagisa-kun.”

With a final smile at his friend, Nagisa turns and makes his way down the hallway, opens the door at the end and begins his descent. In his wake, Rei watches him until he is no longer visible, then returns to the warmth of his home.

Nagisa’s mind is somewhere else as he leaves Rei’s apartment block. So much has happened recently that it’s becoming difficult for him to keep track of his emotions. His thoughts are scattered all over the place. He doesn’t notice a shadow move in a nearby alley at all as he passes it. Nor does he hear the footsteps behind him until it’s too late.

Something grabs him and forces a cloth against his mouth. On instinct, Nagisa gasps, realising a second later that doing so was a mistake. His mind begins to fog, and his last thought before everything goes dark is how sore his wrist is.

 

* * *

 

 

When Nagisa awakens, it takes him a moment to get his bearings. At first, all he sees is a faint light and a grey ceiling. Blinking, the world comes into focus, and he remembers what happened.

Panic fills him. He tries to breathe through his mouth but finds he can’t, thanks to a wad of fabric keeping it shut. His entire midriff is sore, but his wrist hurts the most. He tries to move it. Nothing happens.

Internally, he curses. He wasn’t paying enough attention before, and now he’s ended up in this position. He has no idea where he is or how he ended up here. All he knows is that his family are going to be worried about him by this point. His parents didn’t even know he’d be going come late at all. And Rei - Nagisa had promised to text him. Nagisa had told him he’d be alright. But he’s broken his promise. Shame washes over him. He hopes Rei doesn’t go to any extremes to find him.

And Rin. Rin was right. He doesn’t know if this was the threat he was thinking of by giving Nagisa that warning, but it seems likely. At this point, he doesn’t know whether to thank Rin for the warning or to curse him for being right. How could he have been so foolish as to end up in this position?!

His intuition kicking in, he decides to stay quiet. If he can hear anything about his captor now, then he might be able to find a way to escape. He stops moving, holds his breath, listening out for any sound. At first, all he can hear is the faint drawl of the radio, some news show surrounded by static. He hears the engine of the car working, the whoosh of the occasional car passing them. Other than that, there is no sound. No words are spoken by his captor.

With that plan out of use, Nagisa looks up at the roof of the car. How can he get out of this situation with no information other than the fact he’s in a car, driving to who-knows-where? He already knows that he can’t move. His hands are tied on separate sides of his body. For a second, he appreciates how much his captor must know about him to think of doing such a thing. If his hands were tied together, he could have transformed and escaped from these bounds by now. His ankles are tied together, so he can’t kick with one leg. In all senses, Nagisa is at a disadvantage.

All Nagisa can think is that he’s thankful he’s the only victim. Seeing Rei trapped like this would kill him inside, especially if he couldn’t do anything about it.

Before Nagisa can stop it, he feels his eyes heat up, prickling with warmth. A lump rises in his throat. He tries to control his breathing, to stop the tears from shedding. Crying won’t help anything.

But it’s not like he can do anything else, he thinks. He’s been tied well enough that he can’t do anything, and there’s no way for him to escape. At the moment, he’s a sitting duck. Anyone in his situation would feel like crying.

Would Rei feel like that? Rei’s smart. He’d be able to find a way to escape this situation. Actually, he wouldn’t have been kidnapped in the first place. If Rei were here, at least he’d have a plan.

Nagisa is struggling to breathe at this point, trying to hold back sobs. He won’t be surprised if his captor notices that he’s awake now. Crying has given him away. He’s made enough noise to be noticed at this point. And it’s not like making noise is going to get him out of this situation, or make it worse. Or at least, that’s what he hopes.

“You’re awake,” a voice says from the front seat. The voice sounds like an older man, one who has worked for too long without getting any sleep but is still trying to be polite to his co-workers. “Sorry. You can’t be comfortable, back there.”

Confusion floods him. Why does his captor care about his comfort? It doesn’t sound like he’s being sarcastic, either. There is genuine kindness in his tone. Nagisa doesn’t know whether to believe it.

“I’m aware that you’re probably shocked right now,” the man continues without looking back at him. Nagisa can see the reflection of his eyes in the mirror, lined with wrinkles, carrying the weight of years’ worth of sleepless nights. As Nagisa surveys him, the man looks up at his back mirror, making eye contact through his reflection. His eyebrows draw closer together and he looks back to the road. “You’re crying. I’m sorry. You must be frightened, too.”

If Nagisa could move his arms right now, he would wipe away his tears until his face was bone-dry. But since he can’t, he wipes his cheeks as best he can on his shoulders. He doesn’t want his captor to pity him like this. It’s patronising.

“I’ll explain everything once we get there. Please wait a while longer.”

Unable to speak his mind, Nagisa looks back up to the roof of the car, refusing to acknowledge the man’s words. Even though he’s feigning ignorance, however, his mind can’t help but flow with thought. Why does it feel like this man is trying to be nice to him, even though he's kidnapping him? Does he think Nagisa will fall for his tricks, start to trust him?

The man doesn’t speak again for a while, and Nagisa manages to fall into fits of sleep. His only indicator of the time is the sky outside the window, which turns from evening purple to pitch black within what feels like minutes. As it’s summer, the sun rises early, and he gets to see the sky become lighter, too.

After what feels like hours, the car comes to a halt in a car park beside a beach. The sun has begun to rise, the sky a fiery red. There are still traces of the stars in the darkest parts of the sky.

The man turns to face him, and Nagisa gets a look at his captor. He looks middle-aged, his brown hair messy and greying at the roots. His clothes are neat, definitely more so than Nagisa imagined. Somehow he’d had the image of a mad scientist in a white lab coat in his head.

“I’m sorry, there’s still a little longer. The car can’t take us any farther.”

Nagisa doesn’t reply.

The man gets out of the car and opens the back door at Nagisa’s leg side. “I’m going to untie your feet so you can walk. Please don’t kick me.”

Even though the man says that, he fully expects it when Nagisa aims his now free foot at his head. He holds Nagisa’s ankles down against the car seat.

“Please, I need you to be cooperative. I understand that you don’t want to be in this situation. I will explain everything when we get there.”

The majority of Nagisa warns him to run as soon as he gets the chance. However, part of him is curious, wants to know why this man kidnapped him, why he is being so kind to him - whether it’s true or not. So instead of fighting back, he walks with the man from the car park towards the beach, where a rowing boat bobs in the shallows. Something about the beach feels familiar to him, though he can’t put his finger on what.

When they reach the boat, the man helps Nagisa in - or tries to. Nagisa moves away from his touch and manoeuvres his way into the boat without any help, but with a lot of effort. The man smiles wryly before taking his seat across from Nagisa, their knees pressing against each other in the tiny space. He grabs the rows and unties the boat, pushing away from the shore.

Nagisa’s back is towards their destination. As he tries to avoid his captor’s eyes, he looks towards where they came from, trying to recollect why this place feels familiar. He surveys the sandy beach, the quiet atmosphere, the plants and trees, the collection of wooden cabins further up the slope-

_This is that beach_ , Nagisa thinks, and he knows where they’re going.

“You recognise it?” the man says, and Nagisa looks to his eyes. Rather than looking at him, the man keeps his eyes facing forward, to their destination. “Your eyes widened.”

Conscious of the fact that this man can read his expression, Nagisa looks away again, scanning the beach. It’s difficult to tell in the semi-darkness, but there doesn’t seem to be a soul around other than them.

“It’s a risk, taking you here,” the man says. “You must have seen the news articles. But I’ve found a way in.”

Neither of them make another sound for the rest of the boat journey. The man looks like he might talk at several points, but Nagisa refuses to acknowledge him, so he stays silent. It doesn’t take much time for them to reach their destination, their boat bumping against the sand. The man gets out first, tying the boat up, before moving to help Nagisa.

Jerking from his grip, Nagisa stands in the boat. It wobbles beneath him. Before he can lose his footing, the man grabs him and guides him out onto dry land, much to his chagrin. Scowling, Nagisa turns to face the island in front of them.

The news reports weren’t joking about the island being cordoned off. A line of yellow tape runs along the perimeter of the beach, warning signs posted every few feet. His captor ignores these signs, walking along the tape until they reach a forested area where the tape ends. Looking back, the beach on the other side is no longer in view.

“This way.”

It’s surprisingly easy for them to hike further into the island, despite the warning signs and Nagisa’s bindings. After what feels like only five or ten minutes, the lighthouse is already in view. Light flickers in the windows.

The man stops for a second, staring at it. His eyes are as wide as his grin. “Brilliant. So it does work.”

Nagisa frowns at the man. Is he only here to see if the rumours are true? But the man continues to walk a moment later, and Nagisa has no choice but to follow and hope he’ll be able to escape later on.

When they reach the Rest Howse, all the lights are on, welcoming them into its rotting interior. The scenery of the desolate kitchen is familiar, and Nagisa fights the urge to smile at the memory of being here with his friends. Back then, everything felt so much more simple.

The man leads him up the stairs, spiralling up each flight, passing every floor where Nagisa half expects him to stop, until they finally reach the control room. Now, instead of it being empty, there are a couple of chairs in the room. The man guides Nagisa to a chair.

“Take a seat.”

Nagisa sits down.

“I’m going to remove your gag,” the man says. “I’ll warn you now that there’s no point in screaming for help. We’re the only humans on the island. Though I expect you already knew that?”

He waits for a response which doesn’t arrive, and after a few moments, moves behind Nagisa. Carefully, more so than Nagisa expects, he loosens and pulls away the cloth in front of his mouth. Nagisa takes a few breaths through his mouth, basking in the feeling of the air hitting his dry lips. Before he can think of words to say, the man holds up a water bottle.

“Your mouth must be dry. Would you like a drink?”

Nagisa almost nods. Then he realises that he can’t hold the bottle with his hands trapped by his sides. He stops himself from nodding. It would be degrading to let this man feed him water.

The man frowns. “Aren’t you thirsty? You’ll become dehydrated.” He unscrews the bottle. It opens with a satisfying pop as the plastic separates. “I’d recommend you drink something.”

The bottle of water is not a ruse. The label is familiar and the bottle has only just been opened for the first time. There’s no danger in drinking it. The only danger is Nagisa’s pride. But, he realises, there’s no-one here to judge him for taking a drink. Eventually, he nods.

Smiling, the man lifts the bottle to Nagisa’s lips, tilting it. Nagisa latches onto it, the water addictive from the moment it hits his tongue. He hadn’t realised how thirsty he was until now.

The bottle is half-empty when the man takes it away. He screws the cap back on and puts it on the floor beside Nagisa’s chair before sitting down on the other chair. “You’re quiet. You can speak now, you know.”

“Who are you?” The words come out of Nagisa’s mouth on instinct.

“My name is Keitarou Echi. I’m a scientist studying genealogy.”

So he was right about the man being a scientist. He doesn’t look like it.

“Why did you bring me here?”

The man looks down at his hands, which are loosely connected in his lap. “It’s a long story. I will tell you it all in due course.”

“Why not now?”

“Because there are more important matters to attend to.” The man looks back up. “I have a few questions I want to ask you before I divulge any information of my own.”

“What makes you think I’ll answer your questions?”

“If you don’t, then it makes this trip a waste of time for both of us. I’d have to find someone else to ask. I might also be forced to keep you here for longer.”

“You can’t keep me here,” Nagisa says, anger filling him. “I have a life! Friends! Family! I’m supposed to be swimming at regionals in a couple of days!”

“I’m aware that you have other priorities,” Keitarou says, keeping his voice at room level. “That’s why I recommend you answer my questions honestly. That would solve matters much more quickly.”

Nagisa glowers at the man, wishing he could do something, anything. At least he has his voice now.

“There are others like you who I could question,” Keitarou says. “Though the results may not be quite as potent.”

This man knows there are others with powers. He probably knows that Rei has powers too. He can’t let this man kidnap anyone else, especially Rei.

“Fine. What do you want to know?”

“When did you first come to this lighthouse?” Keitarou begins asking questions without hesitation.

“Last summer,” Nagisa says. “I was on holiday with my family.”

“Were you with your family when you came here?”

“No. I swam to the island to explore and ended up getting stuck here during a storm.”

“So you were on your own in the lighthouse?”

For a second, Nagisa debates telling a lie. He doesn’t want to put Rei in any danger by mentioning him. Then again, this man must already know that Rei has powers. And didn’t he say if Nagisa lied, he’d have to get someone else in for questioning? “No. There was already another boy here.”

His eyes widen a fraction. “Did you know this boy?”

“Not at the time.” _He’s my best friend now_ , he finishes in his head.

“So you know him now,” the man states, not expecting an answer. “Am I right in believing that the two of you made it to this room?”

Nagisa nods. “We were exploring to see if we could turn the lights on.”

“And you flipped the switch on the control panel.”

“Yes.”

“Was it you who flipped it?”

“Both of us did it. Together.”

The man frowns. “Together?”

“We both had a hand on the lever.”

“Interesting.” The man stands and moves to the control panel, examining the switch. “The switch doesn’t look big enough for two hands. Who was directly touching it?”

“Me.” Nagisa can’t help but feel confused. Why does it matter who turned on the switch, or who was touching it directly? And why is the man so interested in it? He must know that the switch is what caused Nagisa to gain his powers. Do the exact details matter this much?

The man looks over to him, brows furrowed, creating frown lines on his forehead. “So you are the one…”

“Can’t you explain what you mean already?” Nagisa is tired of this roundabout interrogation. He only wants to know what is going on, why he is here, why this man is acting so strangely. “Why does it matter that I had my hand on the switch first? It’s not like it was only me pulling it.”

Keitarou walks over to him and kneels beside him. “Is it alright if I look at your wrist?”

Nagisa doesn’t have to ask which one he wants to see. He moves his arm as much as he can so the mark is visible past the bindings.

With an invisible touch, the man takes his wrist, prods at his mark. Each time he does so, it stings. The man doesn’t seem to notice Nagisa’s hand clenching.

“You were a buffer,” he says finally, moving away again. “Though your friend helped to turn the switch on, your hand was the one touching it fully. That means you absorbed more of the energy from it than he did.”

“What are you trying to say?” If only this man could speak in more than abstract therms. “What energy?”

“The energy which gave you this.” He gestures to Nagisa’s wrist. “It was too much energy for you to stay conscious once you absorbed it, but there was a lot of energy within that switch. It should have been visible after you triggered its flow.”

“Okay, so we absorbed some weird energy which gave us these marks,” Nagisa says. “Giving us weird powers. I get that. But why does it matter that I ‘absorbed more energy’?”

“Because,” he starts, then pauses.

“Because?”

For a second, he looks at Nagisa with an unreadable expression. Then he sighs. “You absorbed the most power. The powers you obtained from your mark - the energy you absorbed - are more potent than anyone else who has gained powers since then. In theory, you have more potential.”

Nagisa frowns. “But Rei-chan- my friend, he can do about the same amount of things as I can.”

“Note that I said potential, not abilities,” he says. “I am aware that your friend probably has similar powers to you. But you have more potential to gain power than he does. If you harnessed that potential, you could have more power than any other person who has been affected by this energy.”

As if on cue, there’s another sting in his wrist. Nagisa looks down at it, seeing the light at its brightest once again. He looks back up. “What does this have to do with you? Why do you know so much about how this works?”

Keitarou sighs. He looks towards the control panel again, then back to Nagisa. The smile he wears doesn’t feel completely genuine. “I am the one who engineered this. I created this energy.”

All at once, Nagisa’s ideas of this man being a mad scientist returns, and he feels a spike of fear. “You mean…”

“Essentially,” he says, “I gave you these powers.”


	20. Chapter 20

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The final battle is here.

Nagisa can only stare. This man can’t be telling the truth. And yet, every word he says sounds real. Now that Nagisa thinks about it, the man said he was a genealogist. He works with biology. It seems legitimate that this man could create something which would cause people to gain superpowers. And yet, Nagisa still doesn’t understand.

“When I was a student,” Keitarou begins, “I was obsessed with comic books. The heroes in them were all interesting. My favourite part was their origin stories. Seeing ordinary people like Peter Parker become Spiderman because of a bite. It was intriguing. I always wondered, how would a spider bite cause someone to gain superpowers? I knew it was fiction, but I wanted to test it, to see if it was possible.

“I ended up studying genetic modification. It’s my speciality. I wanted to see how scientists like myself can change people by altering the tiniest details about their genetic code. I wanted to know if I could cause people to gain new abilities in the same way that a spider bite could create a being with super powers. It took a long time, and tonnes of trial and error. At first I tested it on animals, but they weren’t the best subjects. Their lack of free will and my inability to communicate with them meant that they generally couldn’t harness their abilities as best as I wished they could.”

Nagisa finds himself both horrified and curious about the animals who were tested for this experiment. He berates himself for wanting to know the results.

“In the end, I knew that the only useful test subject could be a human,” he continues. “I had to find a willing test subject who I could monitor. I also needed a test location which was far enough from society that it didn’t harm people, but close enough for me to get supplies to sustain the test subject. This lighthouse became my laboratory, and a few people my test subjects. Of course, it took a few modifications for me to get it right. One person, unfortunately, didn’t make it to the end of the test phase, and another is nothing like a human now.”

Nausea swirls in Nagisa’s stomach. “Someone died?”

“It was unfortunate,” he says, his eyes tinged with a hint of regret. “I almost stopped the experiments after that. But after a few changes to the makeup, I was able to create the perfect mixture. The perfect energy which would be able to modify a person’s genetic code.”

“If it was so successful, then how did it end up here?” Nagisa says. “Attached to the light switch?”

The man smiles wryly. “Genetic modification is a… contraversial field of study. I hadn’t tested the new, potent energy, though in theory it worked exactly as I wanted it to. I couldn’t find any more willing test subjects either. I suppose you can imagine why.”

“So you left it here for someone to become your guinea pig?” Suddenly, Nagisa has mixed feelings about his powers. These powers didn’t come from a good background. Is it right for him to be using them?

“I suppose, in a sense, yes. I expected someone else to touch it first. Not a young boy. This island is supposed to be pretty much abandoned. Anyone with common sense would take this lighthouse to be out of commission and not bother trying the light switch. But somehow, you and your friend got it in your heads that it might work.”

“It was worth a shot,” Nagisa says. “The lights work now.”

“Yes, but even you can see the attention that has garnered, right?” He looks at him with a hard gaze. “People are dying to know the secret of the island. The secret behind these ‘rumours’. Don’t you see that that’s the reason why you’re not the only one to have gained these abilities?”

Now that Nagisa thinks about it, he never did question how the gang leader gained his powers. Did he come to this island too? How many people entered the Rest Howse after Nagisa and Rei activated the switch?

“The energy from the switch has been flowing for the past year,” he says, as though he can read Nagisa’s mind. “You, being the first to activate it, received the most energy, along with your friend. The more time passed after that, however, the less potent the energy was, since it’s been flowing through this lighthouse and into nature itself. It’s the energy from that switch which is causing the mutations. That’s the reason why the fish are contaminated.”

“Wait,” Nagisa says, realising something. “Does that mean anyone who ate the contaminated fish might have powers, too?”

“Not quite. They might have a few changes to their genetic code, but nowhere near to the extent of someone who has encountered the energy first-hand.”

The people from Samezuka… They got ill after eating the fish. Does that mean they have weird mutations or abilities now? Did Rin eat the fish?

“In any case,” he says, bringing Nagisa out of his thoughts, “I brought you here to analyse your abilities. I wanted to see for myself how the energy has affected you. How effective it has been.”

Nagisa looks down at his feet, his mind too full of thoughts to give him an answer. This rogue energy could be dangerous if it continues to spread. People might get hurt. He can’t imagine what might happen if everyone in this area gained mutations. It would be seen as a scientific disaster.

“Is there a way of putting the energy back where it came from?” Nagisa says.

“I’m sorry?” Keitarou’s brows furrow. “I was under the impression that you enjoyed having superpowers. Why would you want to return the energy? That would mean losing your abilities.”

Nagisa’s breath hitches. There had to be a catch. Once again, Nagisa finds himself facing the decision as to whether he would be willing to give up his superpowers. Though he knows it’s the right choice to make, if it will help other people, part of him finds itself clinging onto his alter-ego.

“It’s ruining people’s lives,” Nagisa says slowly, trying to convince both himself and Keitarou.

“But you’ve been saving lives,” he says. “You’ve been using the energy for good!”

“That doesn’t mean everyone with powers has been using it for good!” Nagisa finds himself shouting again, looking the man straight in the eyes and wishing for him to understand. “Sure, I’ve been able to save a couple of people. But more have been hurt by this than have been helped. Why would you want that? The people who live in this area might never be able to sell produce from here again.”

“What does that matter? They can import from other areas.”

“And lose their source of income? Think about all the families who live here who won’t be able to feed their children!”

The man suddenly looks angry, and he’s raising his voice too. “You have superpowers! Why should you care about the little people! You’re better than them, you can do so much more than them! You can have it all! Power, glory, fame! What do the lives of some people in a tiny fraction of Japan matter in the long run? You could be defeating evil!”

“I’d rather defeat the evil that these powers are spreading!”

Keitarou stands. “Why can’t you appreciate the gift you’ve been given?! You’ve been given the opportunity of a lifetime! It wasn’t even supposed to be you who gained these powers! At least appreciate them.” He stalks over to Nagisa, putting his hands on his shoulders. “You are unique! You’re special! Why would you give that up for people you don’t even know!”

“Get your hands off of my brother, you jackass!”

Suddenly, Keitarou is on the floor. Standing in front of Nagisa, facing the fallen scientist, is none other than Hazuki Nanako. She doesn’t turn to face Nagisa, keeping her eyes instead on Keitarou, who scowls from the floor.

“Who the hell are you?!”

“One of your victims,” she says. Then she jerks her head in Nagisa’s direction. “And his sister.”

“Why are you here?! How?!”

As he speaks, Nagisa feels the bindings around his torso loosen. He turns his head round, only to be met with a head of blue hair.

“Rei-chan?!”

Lilac eyes look up at him, and Nagisa notices the mask covering them.

“Nagisa-kun,” he says, “are you hurt anywhere?”

He shakes his head. “No, I’m fine. The ropes were tight, but other than that I’m fine.”

Rei - or Butterfly, he supposes - nods at him. Then, quietly, he says, “I’m so glad you’re safe. I was worried - I thought, you might have…”

Despite the situation, Nagisa finds himself smiling. “Don’t worry. This guy wasn’t planning on hurting me, I don’t think.” He turns his head, looking to where the man is standing, his back pressed against the curved wall of the lighthouse. In front of him, Nanako looks less than pleased.

“Why the hell did you kidnap my brother?!”

Keitarou shakes his head. “I see no reason to tell you.”

“I think you do! Considering the amount of pain I can put you in. It’s three against one now, right?”

He looks over to Nagisa now, sees the lack of bindings tying him to the chair. His eyes narrow into slits.

Nagisa stands, and a second later Butterfly is by his side. “I’m not going to let you continue what you’ve been doing.”

“You’re a fool,” Keitarou spits out, his teeth bared in anger. “Especially if you think I’ll let you stop me so easily.”

As if on cue, footsteps sound from behind them. Nagisa turns quickly enough to evade the grasp of one of the newcomers, then uses the chair as a shield from the next attempt. The newcomer swipes the chair out of his grasp, throwing it across the room. He pulls Nagisa up by the front of his shirt.

“You can’t run,” he says, breath hot and heavy on Nagisa’s face. He wrinkles his nose on impulse at the smell of cigarettes and alcohol.

“I had these gentlemen help me,” Keitarou explains. “One of them was my first choice for the test subject of this experiment. Unfortunately, he was only able to gain a fraction of the power that you possess.”

The man holding Nagisa lets out a loud guffaw. “This runt was the one you were talking about? Looks like he could snap if you threw him too hard.”

Instantly, his voice becomes recognisable, and Nagisa lets out a gasp. He regrets this gasp immediately, once he chokes on the tobacco in the air. But that voice is unmistakable.

The gang leader pushes Nagisa back, as though that would help him to stop choking. “Shut up. Keitarou wants you alive.”

Nagisa grimaces. If he’s that important, then surely this guy could stand to use less force, holding him up like this. Isn’t his arm getting tired?

Speaking of arms, Nagisa notices that the pain in his wrist has grown substantially worse. Its light is bright, though no one else seems to be taking any notice of it. And with the way this guy is holding him, it would be so easy for Nagisa to take advantage of that.

But does Nagisa want to transform? Wouldn’t that be playing into the hands of Keitarou? If he transforms, the scientist could gather more data on him. If he refuses to transform, however, then what are the chances of him making it out of here alive?

“I’d appreciate it if you didn’t try to strangle me,” Nanako says in a choked voice. Nagisa manages to turn his head enough to see her in a headlock from one of the lesser gang members. Closer to Nagisa is Butterfly, caught in the same kind of position from the other goon.

“I suppose you were wrong before, miss,” Keitarou says, his grin lecherous. “It’s more like four against three. And you’re on the losing side.”

At this rate, the only way they’ll get out of this is if Nagisa transforms. That way, he can take the gang leader by surprise, hopefully help the other two escape and try to switch off and destroy the lever. He can’t help but feel annoyed that transforming is his only option when it might help the enemy. But if it’s all he can do, then he needs to try.

Discreetly, Nagisa grabs his wrist with his other hand, checking that the gang leader is looking the other way before screwing his eyes closed.

_‘I need to get out of this situation and help the others!’_ Even inside his mind, his voice is frantic. _‘Please!’_

Light bursts from his mark, swallowing him whole and pushing the gang leader away from him. The familiar black suit envelopes his body, his mind focusing into his alter-ego. A second later he lands on his feet.

It seems that in the confusion of his transformation, chaos took over. Butterfly, able to throw off his captor, is now in close combat with him, whilst Nanako is nowhere in sight, replaced instead by none other than the woman from the alleyway - Okami. She has the goon in a headlock now.

_‘I knew it,’_ Rockhopper thinks, then focuses on his opponent. The gang leader swells with anger at seeing his identity.

“It’s you,” he growls. “Should’ve known. You’ve been a pain from the start. No wonder you’d be a pain even before that night.”

Rockhopper smirks. “I don’t plan on letting you win this time either.”

And the battle begins.

It’s a mess of limbs. With six people fighting in such close quarters, it’s all too easy to hit the wrong target. A couple of times, Rockhopper finds himself crashing into Butterfly. They scramble apart, returning their focus to their targets, who continue to attack relentlessly. Luckily for Butterfly, the goons haven’t gotten much better at fighting in the time since they last met, and since he’s only taking on one, the fight is easy.

For Rockhopper, however, the fight is more taxing. The gang leader is strong, meeting every punch he throws with an equally strong attack. Rockhopper doesn’t know what’s more annoying; the lack of time to breath between attacks or the fact that this guy is grinning like he’s just won the lottery. Fighting like this isn’t fun, at least not for Rockhopper. He doesn’t see how the gang leader is enjoying this.

He doesn’t know how much time passes before Butterfly finally yells something to him.

“Nagi- Rockhopper! By the control panel!”

Rockhopper turns around. By the panel is Keitarou. It looks like he’s fiddling with some of the switches.

_‘This can’t be good,’_ he thinks just as his face is met with a swift punch.

“Keep your eyes on your opponent, brat!” The gang leader’s eyes are wide with exhiliration. “You’re dead wrong if you think you can look away while fighting me!”

Turning to look at his opponent, Rockhopper moves back into fighting stance, but it is unnecessary. A kick throws the gang leader across the room. Butterfly straightens up, looking towards Rockhopper.

“Go!”

He doesn’t waste a second. Dashing across the room, Rockhopper pushes Keitarou away from the control panel, watches him curl his arms to protect his head as he falls. Moving his attention to the panel, he immediately finds the lever, glowing red.

_‘How am I supposed to destroy it?’_

“No you don’t!”

The scientist tries to push Rockhopper away, but he resists, catching him by the arm and throwing him to the side. He hazards a glance to the other side of the room, sees both of his allies taken up with the gang leader. The two goons lie unconscious in a corner. There’s no one who can take care of this guy except for Rockhopper.

“I’ll never let you push that lever!” Keitarou says. “Even if you do push it, I can get someone to turn it back on!”

“Who in hell told you I was going to leave it intact?!” Rockhopper presses his fingers to his mark, releasing his weapon. “I’m destroying this once and for all. I’m not going to let you continue this sadistic experiment.”

“I’m not going to let you stop me!”

When Keitarou comes rushing at him, Rockhopper meets him easily with a kick, sending him back to the floor. Compared to the gang leader, this guy is easy to handle.

“Hurry!” a voice comes from the other side of the room. Okami and Butterfly are still fighting the gang leader, peppered in injuries. Okami’s eyes are filled with anger. “We can’t hold him off much longer!”

Rockhopper turns back to the control panel, raises his weapon. At his side, he hears Keitarou coming back again, rushing to stop him. He feels the eyes of the others on his back, knows that this moment is the most important he may ever live through.

Can he really do this?

Steeling his resolve, his grip tightens.

“I’m ending this!”

He swings his weapon down, using all of his energy to hit the lever. It knocks backwards into its ‘off’ position. As it does, the snowflake-weapon cuts through the metal as though it was rubber, taking the head of the lever off, sending it flying through the air, the red energy dying within it.

“No!”

A flash of light. Darkness consumes them. He hears a voice cry out as light, glowing red, erupts from the other side of the room, rises into the air, evaporates. Another voice yells. More light. Through the window, he sees even more red light, appearing for a second before dissolving into nothingness. He hears Rei’s voice call out, the brightest red light so far bursting out and exploding like fireworks.

It burns. His wrist and his chest are filled with fire, and he can’t help but cry out at the pain. He watches with wide eyes as something bubbles from within his chest, light escaping his body and turning into darkness. His knees hit the wooden floor. Putting a hand to his face, he finds only what is normally there. No mask.

It’s gone. Rockhopper is no more.

For a few minutes, there is nothing. No sound. No movement. No life. Only silence. Only grief. Then, a light flickers, dim, especially compared to the show which has just occurred.

“Nagisa-kun?”

Looking up, Nagisa sees Rei kneeling in front of him. He has no idea when he moved over here.

“Rei-chan?”

“Are you okay?” Rei’s eyes flick over him, giving him an examination.

Nagisa knows he isn’t hurt, at least not too badly. But he isn’t okay. He isn’t sure how he feels. Empty, maybe. Like a shell. He shakes his head.

Rei seems to hesitate for a second, his brows drawn in worry. He bites his lip, then, making a decision, moves forward and captures Nagisa in his arms.

It’s unexpected. Not only the action, but also the warmth it brings. Nagisa hadn’t realised he was cold until now. He finds himself shivering, grabbing onto the back of Rei’s shirt and burying his eyes in his shoulder. Warmth pricks at his eyes.

“I know.” Rei murmurs the words, his voice soothing in Nagisa’s ear. “Me too.”

They sit there for a while, caught in each other’s embrace, recovering from the pain of everything that has happened. Even though Nagisa knows he did the right thing, it still feels wrong. It feels painful. Already he is doubting himself, wishing he hadn’t destroyed the lever.

But he also knows that it’s for the best. In the long run, this will make everyone happier. Even if it’s painful now, in the end, everything will work out.

After a while, a voice breaks them apart.

“Hey, you two.” Nanako speaks in a surprisingly gentle way. She waits for the two boys to part, wiping their eyes on their sleeves. “We should get away from here.”

“What about them?” Rei asks, gesturing to the gang members and Keitarou. Nagisa had forgotten they were here.

“Unconscious,” Nanako says. “I’ll call the police, and they’ll take care of it. This guy’s a convict anyway, so there’s no excuse for them not to arrest him.”

Rei nods and stands, then offers a hand to Nagisa. He takes it.

He doesn’t let go until they part in Iwatobi, hours later.


	21. Chapter 21

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> For a while, everything feels numb.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the final chapter! Thank you to everyone who has supported this fic to the very end. I hope you all enjoyed the ride! I hope you all have a great end to 2016 and the best 2017 possible.

For a while, everything feels numb. Nagisa can’t help but stare at his wrist, where the mark is burned onto his skin, now only a memory of a time where he felt special. It feels like a fever dream. Any moment now, he’ll wake up and it’ll be his first day of high school again. Nothing will ever have happened. Rei won’t know he exists.

When he thinks of that, he can only pray that it wasn’t a dream.

Nagisa takes the next day off school. It’s mostly because of his parents. His mother cajoles him all day, checking in every five minutes, often in tears. At these times, Nagisa is in bed, curled under the covers, feigning sleep. This would be easier if sleep came naturally to him.

He hadn’t expected that it would end like this. It felt so sudden. One day he was only getting the grips of his abilities, and the next he’s back to normal. His previous, powerless self.

It feels like half of him has been destroyed. Like if he had a twin, and they died without warning. He supposes, in a way, that’s what happened. Rockhopper was a part of him. He felt special, as Rockhopper. He could do anything. Now he’s just himself again. No more night-time exploration. No more jumping between buildings, the wind pushing back his hair.

When he thinks about Rei, he curls deeper into shame. Rei, who found himself able to fly through his alter-ego, must be feeling even worse than him right now. And yet, after everything that happened, he was the one comforting Nagisa in the lighthouse. Nagisa curses himself for being selfish. Why didn’t he think of how Rei felt sooner?

He wonders if Rei is at school today. Nagisa can’t imagine Rei missing school for anything. Even after such an eventful night, he won’t be surprised if Rei is at school right now, yawning through maths lessons, feeling terrible but trying to make it through anyway.

How must he feel, knowing that Nagisa took the easy way out?

Nagisa’s eyes flick to the calendar on his wall. There are only two days left until regionals. Yet, here he is, skipping school and practice. How weak.

Downstairs, he hears the doorbell ring. Thinking it must be one of his mother’s friends, he closes his eyes, pulls the covers further over his head.

A minute passes.

There’s a knock at the door.

Nagisa looks up. The door opens, his mother’s face appearing in the crack.

“Someone’s here to see you, Nagisa,” she says.

Opening the door further, she reveals an unexpected visitor, standing awkwardly behind her. Rei stands with square shoulders, his posture stiff and his face concerned.

Nagisa sits up. “Rei-chan? What are you doing here?”

“I wanted to see you,” Rei says, giving a polite bow of the head to Nagisa’s mother before stepping into the room. Behind him, she gives a weak smile before closing the door and leaving.

“But why? Shouldn’t you be at school?” A glance at his clock tells Nagisa that yes, school is still in session right now.

“I took today off,” Rei says. “My parents were worried about me. My mother insisted on driving me here, even though it’s only a five minute walk.”

“I’m sorry.” Nagisa looks down. He squishes the bedsheets between his hands, watching the pattern distort. “I should have been more careful. Then none of this would have happened.”

Rei crosses the room to stand by Nagisa, his eyes filled with concern. “No, Nagisa-kun, there’s no need for you to apologise. I should have walked you home instead of letting you go yourself, especially after a warning like that.”

“No, don’t blame yourself Rei-chan! Especially after what happened last night, after I…”

“Nagisa-kun.” Rei puts his hands on Nagisa’s shoulders. He looks up in surprise at the contact and notices how intense Rei’s eyes are. “Please don’t blame yourself for what happened. You made the best possible decision.”

“But I destroyed everything!” Nagisa feels his eyes grow warm and berates himself for being so weak as to cry now. “I took away your ability to fly…”

“I always feel like I’m flying when I’m with you, Nagisa-kun.”

Nagisa looks up again. Cheeks flushed red, Rei still manages to smile at him, lilac eyes crinkled at the edges. In that moment, Nagisa’s heart skips a beat.

“Rei-chan…”

He looks away, bashful. “When I swim with you and the others, I feel more free than I’ve ever felt. Diving into the water, even though it was once terrifying, is now such an exciting prospect. And seeing my teammates at the end of the lane, waiting for me - it’s amazing. But somehow even just being by your side, I feel like I’m lighter.”

Now Nagisa thinks about it, the longer he’s spent with Rei, the more he’s seen him smiling.

“It’s difficult to explain,” Rei says, removing his hands from Nagisa’s shoulders. The lack of warmth bothers him more than it should. “When I’m with you, time passes so quickly. If I’m having a rough day, you always know what to say. Seeing your smile makes me feel better.”

Emotions fill Nagisa’s heart, and he can’t stop smiling. “Penguins can’t fly,” he says, “but when I’m with you, I feel like I could. Or like I could swim to the other side of the earth.”

“Nagisa-kun…”

“When I woke up last night, I was so scared. I felt like I had betrayed you, by getting kidnapped. More than anything, I wanted you to stay safe. If you had been kidnapped, I don’t know what I would have done.”

“I was scared, too,” Rei says. “Not as scared as you must have been, of course. But you didn’t text me to say you got home, and I was worried enough because of that. Then your sister phoned me to ask where you were. As soon as she phoned, I knew something bad must have happened. I phoned Rin-san after that-”

“You phoned Rin-chan?!” Nagisa can’t help but interrupt. His hands spring up to cover his mouth. “Sorry.”

Rei shakes his head, smiling. “It’s fine. Yes, I phoned Rin-san. I wanted to ask for details about his warning. Luckily, once he heard what had happened, he didn’t mind telling me what had happened.”

They both stay silent for a moment.

“Well?”

“Apparently,” Rei says, finally continuing, “the scientist who kidnapped you-”

“Keitarou.”

“Yes, him. He went to Samezuka. He was posing as a journalist, asking about the sickness that had gone round because of the contaminated fish. He started questioning Rin-san about it, and Rin-san accidentally brought up your powers.”

“Rin-chan did?” A pang of hurt goes through him. He had trusted Rin, and he told the worst possible person about him?

“He regrets it,” Rei says, as though he knows what Nagisa is thinking. “He was pressured into telling more than he intended to. And in the end, he was the one who led me to you. Once he told me who the man was, I had a rough idea as to where you would be.”

Nagisa is silent. Even though he feels hurt by the fact that Rin betrayed him, he tries to remind himself that Rin also tried to warn him. Rin cared enough to try to make right the mistake he made. It was Nagisa who was too careless to think about it.

“After that, your sister offered to drive to the beach,” Rei continues. “The two of us went, and though at times she was definitely over the speed limit, we managed to make it to the beach in only a few hours.”

“How did you get to Sukishima?” Nagisa says, remembering that there had only been one rowing boat in the harbour, and that there would be no others, considering the restricted access to the island.

“We contemplated swimming,” Rei says. “But as I cannot swim well in the ocean, we decided the best option was for me to transform and fly the two of us across.”

“How long were you in the lighthouse before you came into the control room?”

“Only a minute or so. We only heard the tail end of your conversation.”

Nagisa nods, looking back down. In a way, he’s glad that Rei didn’t hear what Keitarou said about how powerful Nagisa apparently was. He isn’t sure how Rei would respond to it, but he isn’t sure he wants to know, either.

“I was surprised,” Rei says after a pause, “when your sister turned out to be Okami.”

“Yeah. I guess we were right.” He thinks back to how his sister has been acting recently. It all makes sense, now.

“At least she’s safe. We all are, now.”

“But what if we’re not?” Nagisa’s insecurities begin to show, and he lets them. For once, he wants to speak his deepest thoughts. “What if Keitarou comes back? Creates another superhero-energy serum and makes someone else a supervillain?”

“Then there’s nothing we can do about it,” Rei says. “There’s no way we’ll be able to get our powers back now. In any case, Keitarou should be going to prison again. I doubt he’ll come back any time soon.”

Nagisa nods. Then they are silent once more, brains swimming in a pool of thought.

Eventually, Nagisa speaks. “Thank you, Rei-chan. For saving me last night.” He looks up.

Rei’s eyes widen. Then he smiles, his face glowing. Its radiance makes Nagisa’s breath hitch. “Haven’t I already told you? I would never let you fall. Whether it be literally or metaphorically.”

On instinct, Nagisa’s fingers find his wrist, and he feels his heart beating within it. He finds himself leaning further forward. “Rei-chan, I need to tell you something.”

“What is it?” Rei looks at him without blinking. A rush of nerves flows through Nagisa at the attention.

Steeling himself, Nagisa pushes the covers away and gets out of bed, standing in front of Rei. His hands itch to knit together, but he clenches them at his sides.

“N-Nagisa-kun?”

“Please don’t run away, even if I say this,” Nagisa says. He knows what Rei’s reply would be, and doesn’t give him time to voice it. “Ever since the beginning, Rei-chan, I…”

He pauses. Trying to ignore the swirling in his stomach, he keeps his eyes trained on Rei’s.

“I love you.”

Silence.

Nagisa stops himself from speaking more. He knows that rambling about his feelings for Rei will only make him feel uncomfortable. Now he can only wait for Rei’s reply.

In front of him, Rei is frozen. He stares at him, eyes wide behind his red frames. Nagisa isn’t sure he’s even breathing anymore. After a couple of minutes, it becomes worrying.

“Rei-chan…?”

At the sound of his name, Rei blinks. Then his body reacts to the surprise of Nagisa’s words. His cheeks flush red, and his mouth falls open.

“I-I’m sorry, I’ve overwhelmed you,” Nagisa says, his throat thick with emotion. “I shouldn’t have said it so suddenly, I’m sorry-”

“Nagisa-kun.”

Rei’s hands are on his shoulders again, and Nagisa looks back up. Rei’s eyes are sparkling, his mouth curved upwards.

“Me too. I-it’s the same way for me.”

“H-huh?”

“I love you too, Nagisa-kun.” Rei’s voice is breathless as he speaks, and he even laughs at the end of his words. “I didn’t think you felt the same, and for a while I wasn’t even sure it _was_ love, but when you were kidnapped, and when I saw you today, I just _knew_ , and I’m so happy you feel the same way.”

“Rei-chan…!” Nagisa reaches up and takes Rei’s face in his hands, enjoying the warmth against his fingers. “I love you so much.”

“I love you too, Nagisa-kun.”

Rei leans down and presses his forehead against Nagisa’s, and the two smile tearfully. Despite everything that has happened, in the end, everything has turned out okay, for now at least.

For a while, they stand together, heads touching, expressions mirroring in equal levels of joy. Then they sit down together and talk. Not about anything important. After all, they have time to talk about things like that.

 

* * *

 

A couple of days pass, and Regionals crops up. On the bus there, Nagisa rests his head on Rei’s shoulder, falling asleep there. He tries not to think about Makoto and Haru, who keep sending them concerned glances.

The glances don’t stop. Then Nagisa meets Haru in the park the night before their race, after he wakes up to find Rei missing. They talk for a while about the relay, then Haru brings it up.

“Something happened.” It isn’t a question.

Nagisa nods. There’s no way he can get out of this conversation.

“Do you want to tell me?”

No, he doesn’t. But he needs to. Instead of bottling it up like he wants to, Nagisa spills his thoughts, an inkwell spilling. He tells Haru about the recent events, about his worries, about the kidnapping. He even finds himself divulging about his weakness, his reluctance to give up his powers. He tells Haru about his grief.

Throughout this, Haru stays silent. That doesn’t mean he isn’t listening, of course. He nods and hums, intent on hearing every word. When Nagisa finishes speaking, he even waits a minute before saying anything, in case Nagisa isn’t done.

“Why didn’t you tell us sooner?”

“Because regionals is tomorrow,” Nagisa says, keeping his eyes on his knees. “The relay is much more important. I didn’t want to worry you before it.”

“Your situation is important too, Nagisa. You went through a lot.”

For a moment, Nagisa doesn’t say anything. Then he laughs. “I guess so. But it’s in the past now. I have more important things to focus on. Besides, Rei-chan helped me a bunch, especially the day after.”

“The day after?”

“Yeah. He came to my house and we talked about it. Rei-chan’s been really supportive, even though what happened must have hurt him, too.”

“Is that when you got together?”

Nagisa sputters. “H-huh?!”

Beside him, Haru blinks, his face perfectly straight. “You’ve been holding hands and hugging all the time for the past few days. Did you expect us not to notice?”

He feels a blush rise to his cheeks. Pressing his lips together, he nods.

Haru’s face morphs into a smile. “I’m glad. It took you long enough.”

“H-hey!”

In the end, Nagisa can’t help but laugh. It _did_ take a long time.

 

* * *

 

The next day is a blur. With everything going on, it’s difficult to keep track. One minute they’re watching Rin swim in his 100m free, the next they’re chasing him down the halls, then listening to Rei’s confession of how he met with Rin last night. Even though Rei is the one to suggest he bows out to let Rin swim in the relay, Nagisa can’t help but be both grateful and worried. He doesn’t want Rei to feel like he isn’t appreciated within their swim club. But then again, Rei knows this is the only way they can fix everything. Besides, after how Rin tried to help them with the kidnapping, he supposes Rei feels like he owes it to Rin to help him this once.

And so they swim. Like back then, they see the sights from their original relay. It’s beautiful and amazing, and Nagisa is overjoyed the moment it begins. Then it’s over, and they’re hugging by the poolside, united once more.

When they part to head to the changing rooms, Nagisa makes a point of walking beside Rin.

“Thank you, Rin-chan,” he says.

Rin looks at him, confused for a second, before his eyes widen. “Ah. It’s nothing. I’m the one who messed up in the first place.” He turns his head away, scratching the back of his neck.

Nagisa shakes his head with a smile. “No, I appreciate it. I don’t know what would have happened if you didn’t give me that warning, or help Rei-chan after I was careless enough to forget it.”

As though tired of the serious conversation, Rin messes up Nagisa’s hair affectionately. “It’s not like I’d let you get hurt. I’m pretty sure Speedo Glasses would want to kill me if I did.”

Laughing, Nagisa looks up to the stands. Sitting alongside the Iwatobi supporters is Rei, whose eyes are focused on him. He feels himself light up, and waves to Rei. After a second, Rei smiles and waves back.

“Get a room,” Rin teases, walking ahead to catch up with his former classmates.

“Ah, wait!” Nagisa calls after him, an idea popping into his head. He rushes to catch up with the others. “We should take a photo, like back then!”

“That’s a good idea,” Makoto says. “Let’s take it by the pool.”

The four swimmers return to the poolside, and Makoto gestures Kou to come down with the camera so she can take the picture. At the same time, Nagisa tries to convince Rei to come down as well, using only the power of his eyes. Rei doesn’t seem to get Nagisa’s message, but he follows Kou downstairs regardless.

A rush of excitement fills Nagisa again and he goes into the tunnel where Rei and Kou appear a minute later. He exchanges a high five with Kou, who goes on to congratulate the others.

Then it’s just him and Rei.

“Congratulations,” Rei says, his smile not as happy as Nagisa would like. “You swam beautifully.”

“Rei-chan,” Nagisa says, his heart melting at how sincere Rei is trying to be. “Thank you so much. You made all this possible.”

“Nagisa-kun…”

“I wish you could have swam, too,” Nagisa admits, looking down at the zip of Rei’s jacket. “I wanted to swim the relay with you as well.”

“Next year.” Rei’s voice is solemn, and Nagisa looks back up to find his eyes filled with determination. “I promise next year, we will be able to swim the relay together.”

Nagisa’s chest swells, his breath caught in his throat. Then, a second later, he lets it out with a smile. “I love you so much, Rei-chan.”

Rei blinks, surprised by the sudden confession, but smiles regardless. “I love you too, Nagisa-kun.”

But Nagisa isn’t finished. He takes one of Rei’s hands, runs his thumb over his knuckles. He looks up at Rei, his eyes focusing for a moment on his lips before moving to his eyes. “Rei-chan, I want to do something I’ve wanted to do for a long time. Can I?”

For a second, Rei’s eyes are hesitant. Then Nagisa notices them drop. He licks his lips.

“Yes.”

A moment passes after the word is spoken where they aren’t sure it was actually said. Nagisa almost thinks it wasn’t, that it was just Rei’s eyes speaking to him. In any case, he moves his free hand to cup Rei’s cheek. Standing on his tiptoes, he moves closer to Rei, feels the cold zip of his tracksuit jacket against his bare chest. Warm breaths dance across his face. He closes his eyes. Rei meets him halfway.

Their first kiss is indescribable. Looking back, Nagisa can only compare it to the feeling he got seeing Rei fly over his head - that moment where his heart stopped, and he had never seen anything more beautiful. Even though neither of them are experienced at kissing, their first kiss isn’t bad. It’s warm and chaste and true. Nagisa can’t think of a better way to show appreciation of someone he loves as much as he loves Rei.

When they part, Rei’s hand is on Nagisa’s waist. They don’t move far apart, only enough for Nagisa to return to his normal height. For a few moments, they only look at each other with love-filled eyes. Then Rei leans down, and they kiss again.

When he’s kissing Rei, every worry he’s had in the past few days is gone from his mind. The connection he feels is exactly like what he felt when he was Rockhopper and Rei was Butterfly - that feeling of being with the right person, the one person who could be called his _partner_. When they kiss, that connection returns. And Nagisa realises that he doesn’t need superpowers to feel special, or wanted. Right now, with his lips against Rei’s, a warm hand supporting him, he doesn’t need anything other than _this_.

Nagisa is thankful for his powers, for bringing him and Rei together. But he doesn’t need them anymore. He’s found someone who can make him feel special. And maybe, just maybe, they don’t need superpowers to be heroes.

**Author's Note:**

> Follow me at [randomactuallywrites-57](http://randomactuallywrites-57.tumblr.com) on tumblr | [@randomwriter57](http://twitter.com/randomwriter57) on twitter!


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